Depression: Do you know men who suffered postpartum depression?

Forty per cent of depressed dads say they have spanked their one-year-old children, compared to 13 per cent who were not depressed, a new study says.

The study was published in the journal Pedriatics and released online on Monday. Its data, which was collected between 1999 and 2000, analyses data relating to 1,746 fathers in 16 large U.S. cities.

While some of the men likely had a history of depression, the symptoms of others were probably related to their children's birth, said lead author Dr. Neal Davis, a pediatrician in Murray, Utah.

Little is known about paternal postpartum depression, a condition more common in new mothers.

Ten per cent of fathers experience depression before or after the birth of a child, according to a 2010 review of studies conducted by pediatrics professor James Paulson and co-author Sharnail Bazemore of the Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk, Va.  

It remains an "under-recognized problem," said Dr. Craig Garfield, an assistant pediatrics professor at Northwestern University.

Since fathers are spending more time on child care, including taking their kids to doctors' appointments, it is important that the doctors are paying attention to dads' mental health, according to Garfield.

Davis recommends that pediatricians start screening dads for depression and refer them to mental health services.

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With files from The Associated Press and The Canadian Press.

Do you know of any father who has experienced postpartum depression, or, if you are a father, have you experienced it yourself? What was your experience? What do you think needs to be done to bring more awareness to the issue?