Mental health professionals have long wondered about the relationship between fatherhood and mental health. An article published in Medical News Today June 19, 2009, “Fatherhood Influences Men In Mental Health Decisions,” examines this issue. The article reports on an “…national online survey conducted within the United States by Harris Interactive on behalf of The American Psychiatric Association between June 12-16, 2009 among 2,274 adults age 18+, 1040 of whom were male; 235 of those males were fathers or legal guardians.” The results were interesting. “…the survey indicated that fathers are more likely to take their mental health seriously for the sake of their children. Over 90 percent of men surveyed said their role as a father or legal guardian would have an impact on their decision to seek help if they were feeling depressed…Survey respondents were more likely to say they would encourage their fathers to seek help for depression if they are parents themselves. More than 90 percent of parents or guardians who still have contact with their fathers said they would be likely to encourage their own fathers to seek help for depression if they felt it was interfering with his work or relationships.”
The Bottom Line: The results of this survey suggest that men when they become father take their own mental health more seriously.
Reference: Original article
Great Informational Websites Created by Dr. Speller and Dr. Korkosz:
- Stress and the Human Brain
- Early Life Stress and the Immune System
- The Facts About Major Depressive Disorder
- The Parent's Guide to Understanding Adolescent Depression
Sources: See blogposts in Psychiatric Disorders: General and Psychiatric Disorders: Depression, Youtube
Additional Resources:
- For related articles on the Web, click on: “Sphere: Related Content” located at the bottom of this blog post.
- For related books or blog posts with related content in Dr. Jeff’s and Dr. Tanya’s Blog type in the keywords into “Google Search” located in the sidebar.
- For more books with related content, type in the keywords into “Amazon Search” on the Amazon banner located in the side bar.
Dr. Jeffrey Speller Dr. Tanya Korkosz