Blogpost 3: Father Issues

Spanking has always been a brutal way for punishing a child specially when the one spanking you is your father. All of us are afraid of getting spanked but somehow, we're more afraid to get spanked when our father is involved. An article concerning about father's mental state when it comes to giving corporal punishment to children made me shocked about the results of their findings. The article is entitled, "Dad's Dark Side: New Fathers with Depression Spank Their Babies More" by Hans Villarica. His research shows that new fathers reported having major depression which makes them spank their children. A new study concerning about fathers depression shows that 41% out of 1,746 daddy's who were living with their one year old babies reported spanking their child due to depression. 

According to the article written by Cristine Neff, new fathers feel depressed because they cannot adapt to the new environment that they are currently on to. Their baby is always crying, they don't have much sleep, they feel they're useless because they cant handle their own child. These are just fractions of what they truly feel inside and its implied in their mind that when their child grows for a year or so, they can apply corporal punishment in order for their children to obey what they say without the thought of being stressed out. Further research shows that the risk of depression rises if the father doesn't feel close to their child and/or when the father had suffered traumatic experiences in their childhood like the loss of a love one, tragic accidents, or life threatening scenarios. 

     Other reasons that triggers depression to fathers: 

• A lack of good sleep
• Changes in hormones 
• Personal History of Depression 
• Poor relationship with spouse 
• Poor social functioning 
• A lack of support from others 
• Economical problems or limited resources 
• A sense of being excluded from the relationship between the mother and the baby

        So in conclusion, despite the difficulties that you face when it comes to raising a child, always remember that everything you do to them reflects at what they will do when they grow older, and that corporal punishment doesn't always solve depression and stress and should not be used more frequently. Having a child is a responsibility, and even though it might be a bit difficult, we should not forget that these responsibilities are the reason why we live today.


Reference:

• http://postpartummen.com/ppnd.htm
• http://healthland.time.com/2011/03/14/dads-dark-side-new-fathers-with-depression-spank-their-babies-more/
• http://www.postpartummen.com/pdfs/USA-Today-PPND.pdf