Dads mental health at risk without parenting groups in early years of fatherhood

I felt I had no one to share my conflicted feelings with except my wife – who eventually asked me to stop adding to her emotional load. It took me years to move beyond inherited gender roles and learn to be an equal care-giving parent.

Social pressures to be a “real man” remain strong in Australia. While young men are culturally taught to be “tough” and self-reliant breadwinners, women are encouraged to connect with and care for others. Australian mothers still do two-thirds of the…