3 upvotes, 1 direct replies (showing 1)
View submission: Yes, Dads Can Struggle With Postpartum Depression—Here’s Why
Yeah. I'm reading this, and I hear echoes of this video about ADHD that I watched where a psychiatrist comments that if we had really understood the condition forty years ago we'd never have named it ADHD, but it's too late to rename it now so it's just stuck with this misleading name. I see parallels between that and PPD.
Yes, a new mother experiences tremendous physical changes as her body literally re-orders itself after the birth. But when we talk about post-partum **depression** I don't think we really have that particular component in mind. I think we're thinking more about interrelated psychological and hormonal changes that affect her as a new parent. It's perfectly reasonable to presume that a new father - who we know is also experiencing hormonal changes[1] during that time, and whose mental state is also hormone-influenced - would also experience psychological changes.
1: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6919930/
But of course, there's no "partum" for the father, so applying that name to the father's experience feels a lot like pounding the square peg into the round hole. And it's way too late for a name change.
Comment by Gimmenakedcats at 13/01/2025 at 21:05 UTC
1 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Very much agree with all of that. In fact, with all of that said, the phrase **post partum depression** doesn’t really seem like it fits any category well enough to encompass anything.
I’d love to see fathers and mothers proactively lead the charge on this bit of semantics, it would change the landscape to get parents the help they need.
It’s pure fucking negligence imo for health leaders, or even birth workers on a mid level to not have already done this.