'Instead of love and happiness towards our daughter, there was jealousy and resentment.' A father opens up about his experience of post-natal depression, as campaigners call for more new dads to have mental health checks
I'll save the details. But there I was, living what's supposed to be one of life's best moments, all the while I was mentally reliving one of my worst.Instead of an unconditional desire to protect her, there was a desire to run away.I felt that I didn't deserve this family.But, instead of running, like I so much wanted to do, I talked.The pressure was getting released, and the more that the pressure was being released, the calmer and better I felt for opening up.
Holding my hand up and saying"I regretted the birth of my daughter and I didn't love her" may have opened me up to criticism and judgement, but it helped me, and many others, to realise that feelings don't define you. People always ask me what my advice is for any father going through post-natal depression, and I'm always a little hesitant as to what to say.
More often than not, the best thing for anyone with a mental health issue is to seek help and talk about how you feel.I try to treat it in the same way I would a physical issue. People have no problem saying"I have a sore knee today" but they're much more reluctant to say"I just want to sit in the corner and cry".
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