Women commonly experience postnatal depression or the baby blues right after giving birth. Do you know that men can have depression as well? The focus has always been on women as they are more willing to seek help whereas men tend to keep quiet about their problems.

The father’s role is as important as the mothers’ and the children will be affected if either parent has mental health problems. Fathers should be aware that studies have shown children whose fathers have this problem are likely to have behavioral disorders or psychiatric problems as well. It is true that mothers are the main child giver especially when the children are very young. However, the father’s role is equally important and has a deep influence on the child’s development. Men are getting more involved in their children’s upbringing and playing the nurturing role equally with the women. In some cases, it is the father who stays home and the mother goes out to work.

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Fatherhood

Studies show that the age range of 18 to 35 years is the peak age for men to be affected by psychiatric disorders. This is the normal age range for men to become a father. The advice to men is to seek help when they face a problem in order to be able to play their parenting role more effectively.

If a father turns to the bottle or alcoholism for relief, then he is risking even more. Studies have shown links between alcoholism and conduct disorders problem in children where they behave destructively and aggressively and also abuse substance. In addition, paternal alcoholism has been associated with a higher risk of low self-esteem, mood disorders, depressive symptoms, poor performance in school and social problems.

Parents who have bipolar disorders may produce adolescents who are ten times more likely to develop bipolar disorder compared to normal adolescents with healthy parents. Hence, paternal depression and other problems do exist and fathers are advice to seek treatment instead of keeping quiet if they want to ensure their family’s wellbeing.

How do parents recognize if their child has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (AD/HD) or also commonly known as Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD)? In general, children are very active and cannot sit still for long, give attention for long period or controlling their impulsive behavior. However, the child who has AD/HD or ADD faces serious difficulty in these areas which affects the rest of the family as well.

What is AD/HD?

A child with AD/HD has a behavioral condition that displays a serious lacking in “executive functions” with extreme sensitivity to rejection, teasing and criticism. “Executive functions” are tasks that develop naturally during the growing up years. They are necessary to be running properly to enable a person to do well in life.

Children with AD/HD may look less mature and responsible as their development may seem to be affected or delayed. In addition, it has been noted that some children may also have learning disorders, suffers from anxiety or sleep disorders, depression and also have Bipolar Disorder. The children who suffer from a serious attachment problem or tic disorders may also suffer from AD/HD.

What are the signs to look out for?

There are actually 3 subtypes of AD/HD as follows:

• AD/HD hyperactive-impulsive type
• AD/HD inattentive type
• AD/HD combined type

The common obvious symptoms are:

For AD/HD hyperactive-impulse type:
• The child talks continuously and gives answers in between but without listening.
• He is unable to sit still, always fidgeting or squirming in his chair.
• He finds it difficult to keep quiet and is always running or climbing around.
• He has a problem waiting for his turn and likes to interrupt others.

For AD/HD inattentive type:
• The child tends to be forgetful and is always losing things.
• He is unable to focus and finds it difficult to do work that requires concentration.
• He is careless and have a problem paying attention to details.

For AD/HD combined type:
• The child displays extreme temper tantrums.
• He can be too demanding, argumentative and aggressive.
• He has a penchant for spilling things.
• He is very noisy and likes to interrupt very often.
• He displays motor restlessness.

Clinicians normally use various types of tests, questionnaires or screening tools to assess if your child has AD/HD.

For more information, check out the following websites:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/adhd
http://www.chadd.org/
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/adhd/