Having a baby could cause men with a history of depression to relapse, a new British study suggests. Researchers from University College London (UCL) analysed medical records of 90,000 men who had children in the previous year and compared them with those that hadn’t become dads.
Men who had not taken antidepressants prior to having a child were no more likely than men without children to need the treatment.
However they found that new fathers who had a recent history of antidepressant use were more than 30 times more likely to be prescribed them in the first year after having a child.
Study author Irene Petersen, Professor of Epidemiology and Health Informatics at UCL said: ‘Some of these men will have continued treatment they were already on but others didn’t have a recent prescription and may have suffered a relapse of depression.
‘It might be they are just more aware of the symptoms and sought treatment – we looked at antidepressant treatment use and not diagnosis. What we did see is that [paternal post-natal depression] is not a risk unless you are prone to depression. But having a child might be a trigger for some men.’
Having a baby could cause men with a history of depression to relapse, a new British study suggests (stock photo)
It is well-known a history of mental illness can dramatically increase the risk of depression in women during pregnancy and after giving birth. But this is one of the first studies to look at the use of antidepressant medication in men after having a child.
Of the 3,840 fathers who had antidepressant treatment within a year of the child being born, 2,552 – roughly 66.5 per cent – had further antidepressant treatment in the year after their child was born.
In addition, of the 1,206 fathers who had been on antidepressants between one and two years before the child was born, 175 – or about 14 per cent – had further antidepressant treatment in the year after their child was born.
Of the 85,690 men who had no history of antidepressant use, just 1,712 (two per cent) were prescribed them in the year after their child was born. In light of the findings, the authors suggest it could be beneficial to have a mental health check-up with their GP in the first year after having a child.
Lead researcher, PhD candidate, Holly Smith, said: ‘The relationship between depression and fatherhood is complex but we found previous antidepressant treatment is a key determinant associated with antidepressant use in the year after having a child.
‘This may be because the men are continuing treatment they were on before having a child, or these men may be more susceptible to having feelings of depression again and the challenges of having a new child may exacerbate this.
‘After the birth of a child, attention is normally focused on the health of the mother and baby. However, we need to ensure that new dads get the care they need, too, by improving research on new fathers and how to engage with them about their mental health.’
Postnatal depression affects one in ten new mothers, according to NHS data, and as many women suffer problems during pregnancy.
One study, which involved looking at 20,000 medical records, suggested a similar proportion of men suffer depression during their partner’s pregnancy, and in the first year of becoming a parent. Roughly 22 million antidepressant prescriptions were handed out to an estimated 6.6million patients between October and December 2022, according to the latest NHS data.
Postnatal depression affects one in ten new mothers, according to NHS data, and as many women suffer problems during pregnancy (stock photo)
Around one in six adults suffer from moderate to severe depression – a rise from one in ten prior to the Covid pandemic. Research from the Government’s Office for National Statistics suggests the problem was even more common in those with financial difficulties, who are facing long-term ill health and disability – or caring for someone who is.
Young adults aged between 16 to 29 were also at greater risk, with more than a quarter suffering mental ill health. Women, over all, are more likely (19 per cent) than men (14 per cent) to report experiencing some form of depression.
Alongside previous antidepressant use, the UCL researchers found that social deprivation was also a key factor as to whether new fathers were prescribed antidepressants.
Fathers who lived in the most deprived areas had an 18 per cent higher risk of receiving an antidepressant prescription compared with fathers living in the least deprived areas.
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