Postpartum depression also affects men

realinemedia/Epictura

Published the 06.09.2017 at 18h32

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Keywords :

dépressionpost-partumtestostérone

The post-partum depression, which occurs in the mothers a few weeks after childbirth, and can last for months or even a year or two, is well described. But sometimes, men are also subject to disturbances in hormone levels, which can affect their mood.

Researchers from the university of Southern California (USC, Usa) showed that these fluctuations could impact on their mood, but also that of their partner. And, unfortunately, the two are not good at the same time.

The fathers depressed

The american researchers followed 149 couples after a birth, for about two years. They were interviewed about their mood and several indicators of depression. In parallel, thanks to samples of salivary, they have responded to the testosterone levels of fathers.

They have observed that a fall of this rate was correlated with depressive symptoms in men. “We often think that motherhood is directed at the biological level, because the mothers have connections to hormone specific with their babies during pregnancy and breastfeeding,” says Darby Saxbe, a psychologist at USC and lead author of the study. But we often forget to think about fatherhood in the same biological terms. “