Dads can get postpartum depression too

Here's a new article on dads and postpartum depression. It says a father's depression often appears different from a mother's: Dads are more likely to be irritable and angry. And about half as many dads as moms have postpartum depression: one in ten, as opposed to one in five for moms.

New dads get baby blues, too

When studied, a father's postpartum depression has an effect on a family as profound as a mother's postpartum depression. Quoting from the article:

According to one large study, following more than 10,000 families for seven years, a father's depression during his child's infancy made the kid more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems by 3.5 years old and more likely to have a psychiatric disorder by the age of 7. This remained true even if dad's depression disappeared after infancy and even after accounting for mom's depression, explained Paulson, who was not involved with this 2008 study published in The Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.