Recognising new fathers with depression

The focus of perinatal psychiatry has been on maternal wellbeing during the perinatal period, in recognition of women’s high risk of developing psychiatric disorders at this time, especially depression or anxiety. Although disorders such as puerperal psychosis can be attributed to the physiological changes associated with pregnancy and parturition, the high-prevalence disorders of depression and anxiety arise as a consequence of psychosocial stresses. More attention is now being paid to how new fathers cope over this time as they are confronted with similar psychosocial stresses that put them at risk of developing depression and anxiety.