Postpartum Depression: Are Gender Roles a Culprit?

Postpartum depression can affect as many as 25% of women after childbirth. Symptoms can occur anytime in the first year after giving birth; they can include sadness, hopelessness, guilt, inadequacy, increased anxiety, panic attacks--to name a few. Sign me up! Possible causes are thought to be life stress, low social support, poor marital relationships, childcare stress, among others. What could all of these causes have in common? Could it possibly have anything to do with gender roles in our society? Although we have come a long way, baby, we are still very traditional when it comes to raising a family. Expectations of a mother are to be the child-rearer, while a father is expected to bring home a paycheck. Let's face it--as progressive as we'd like to think we are, we have not strayed far from this formula in our society. But what is this doing to a quarter of our new mothers? Picture this: You give birth to your first child. When that baby arrives, life as you know it changes forever. You are no longer the master of your fate; now, someone else decides when you sleep, when you eat, when you go to the grocery store or the gym. Your days of indulgent selflessness are over; there is a new decision-maker in the house. And that can be wonderful for some women. It can also be utterly overwhelming, guilt-inducing, exhausting, panic-striking. If you have a partner there by your side, or splitting that huge responsibility with you on a daily basis, that can make the burden more bearable. If not, how do you adjust to the huge life change? On your own? For mothers, this change is on a much larger scale than for fathers. New mothers are expected to adjust happily to this radical change, while perhaps the fathers' lives remain much less affected. What if that adjustment is overwhelming? What if that mother has little support from her partner? What if that father is off earning the necessary paycheck, while the mother is feeling upheaved and overwhelmed at home, with this tiny creature who has drastically altered her life for good? Many women are not happy in the primary-caregiver, stay-at-home mom role, but are perhaps fearful of saying so...because of what society might think of them. Similarly, many men may feel unhappy in their breadwinner roles, yet afraid to voice those feelings. If women felt more social freedom to be open about their resentment for the traditional role they are now expected to play, to express their desire for shared "custody" of child-rearing responsibilities, perhaps those numbers of Postpartum Depression sufferers might take a dip. Perhaps if old expectations could be lightened, some of that depression could be alleviated. Likewise, perhaps if men felt less pressure to be sole providers, more societal acceptance to share the weight of the stay-at-home load...if we felt socially encouraged to buck gender roles and create parenting situations that work for the parents involved...what positive effects could it have for those moms feeling so overwhelmed and inadequate? Mothers carry a heavy burden of gender expectations. When it comes to the high numbers of mothers who suffer from Postpartum Depression, perhaps this model is worth looking at. Perhaps worth tweaking.