People with depression have described it as a black cloud following them everywhere they go. Some people describe feeling numb or empty. Some are utterly exhausted, so much so that getting out of bed is hard and walking to the mailbox feels like a workout
Men may seem angry, act aggressively, and quickly lose their temper, she said. They “may try to deal with life with excess alcohol, which often just fuels their anger.” (“But, when truly assessed it can become clear that they are avoiding feelings,” she said.)
Postpartum depression also commonly gets dismissed as “just the baby blues,” Ducharme said. However, it’s a real and treatable illness, though it is undertreated, she said. In this piece, advocate Katharine Stone noted that some research has even found that only 15 percent of women with postpartum depression ever get professional help.