[xg15]

> Becoming a father should be able to help with that.

Gotta admit, on the first read I missed OP's announcement that he's about to become father already.

Just for the record, do not have a child as an attempt to escape depression :)

[throwawaywu]

I disagree. Having a fulfilling life in service to others and your family drives away depression.

[mynameisvlad]

Just like having a baby does not magically solve marriage issues, it does not magically cure the root causes of depression.

You might be temporarily applying lipstick to a pig which will gain you a bit of time, but it's not like it magically fixes any of the underlying issues.

If anything, it eventually loads far more stress onto you, making depression and burnout worse.

[esalman]

Can confirm this is not always the case, in fact you're likely to experience the opposite. Source: became father 1.5yrs ago.

If you are the mother you're more likely to experience postpartum depression. Even fathers experience depression. I have had to work full time, do household chores on top of keeping the baby happy, who didn't sleep well at all at night and even now does not. You're going to miss deadlines, fail to meet expectations, do lousy job of your assignments. All of that will or will not affect you, physically and/or mentally.

[drlolz]

can confirm that this is not universally true.

[jerglingu]

Bringing another life into this world is maybe one of the worst ways a person would try to solve depression

[gocartStatue]

May _or may not_ drive away depression. In my case it helped to exploit myself more than I thought is possible. Which eventually turned out ok, but took a few hard years of burnout, escapism and delusions.