Papa in the low: Postnatal depression also affects men

Where is the joy of the child? Why can not I sleep? Where is my energy?

These questions plague many women after the birth of their child. For a long time it was a taboo that as a newly minted mother you are not the thriving life, but suffer from depression. Luckily, it is being talked about more openly today, helping those affected faster.

However, it is still largely unknown: even men can develop postnatal depression. A study has now highlighted this for the first time.

Even during pregnancy, the testosterone level drops

Researchers at the University of Southern California have studied young parents in several studies. The researchers around psychologist Darbe Saxe found that in all men in the course of pregnancy, the testosterone levels dropped. And:The lower the testosterone level, the sooner the men reported depressive moods.

"This fits in with other studies that link testosterone to depression, but ours is the first to show that link especially in newborn fathers," said Darbe Saxe on Psychologytoday.com. This would explain why the period after birth also carries the risk for men of depression.

Amazing: If the man has postnatal depression, women are better off

And how are the women of men with depression? Here the researchers were surprised. In fact, the women reported less common depressive moods, the more her partner was affected.

How can that be?

The psychologists suspect that it is the quality of the relationship. After all, women whose men have a rather low testosterone level tend to rate their relationship better.

Little testosterone is good for the relationship

"In other words, having a man with a low testosterone level could have a beneficial effect on the relationship, which in turn reduces the likelihood that women will contract depression," said Darbe Saxe.

It has often been observed that the risk of postnatal depression decreases when women are well supported by a partner. Obviously men, who are not so much pumped with testosterone, do that.

Why is testosterone actually dropping?

It's probably evolutionary again: men with low testosterone would be more concerned about their family, says Darbe Saxe. This would do the wife and child well and ensure their survival.

That this is accompanied by the moods, is the unpleasant side of it. And maybe that's because they're more involved, Saxe said. "It's just a hard, exhausting job looking after a baby."