Paternal postpartum depression is as common as previously thought, yet remains vastly underrecognized, with 40 percent of people unaware the condition affects fathers at all. According to recent estimates, around 8.4 percent of fathers experience postpartum depression, compared with 13 percent in new mothers, and the two conditions are closely correlated.
Mat Lewis-Carter, 37, a London-based personal trainer and men’s health influencer, experienced this invisibility firsthand. When his partner became unexpectedly pregnant, Lewis-Carter struggled to adjust to the news. After his daughter’s birth in July 2021, he did not immediately feel connected to her and began to “spiral,” taking long runs to escape the house over the first year. He kept his deepening sadness hidden from his partner, Chess, unwilling to burden her. “I remember…not wanting to be here,” Lewis-Carter recalls, describing his first experience with fantasies about his own death.
Recognition and triggers
Around a year after his daughter’s birth, Lewis-Carter discovered an article about paternal postpartum depression buried in search results—“on like page three or four of Google.” The discovery was transformative. “For me, it was this sense of, ‘ahh OK, I see,’” he says, finally recognizing what he had been experiencing.
Though fathers do not undergo the same biological changes as mothers during pregnancy and after birth, they face similar mental health triggers. These include a massive identity shift, stress, lack of sleep, and potentially witnessing birth trauma. Despite these well-documented risk factors, fathers like Lewis-Carter historically received minimal clinical attention and public awareness regarding postpartum depression symptoms and treatment options.
This article is an AI-assisted summary. All facts and figures are drawn from the original report: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2514484-postpartum-depression-in-dads-is-common-we-can-now-spot-and-treat-it/