Stillen kann das spätere Risiko von Depressionen und Angstzuständen für Mütter bis zu 10 Jahre nach der Schwangerschaft senken, so die Ergebnisse einer kleinen Beobachtungsstudie mit 168 Zweitmüttern

>All the women had given birth to a child weighing under 4 kg and they and their children had check-ups 3 and 6 months, and 2, 5, and 10 years after birth by which time the mothers’ average age was 42.
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>At each check-up, the mothers completed a detailed health history questionnaire. This asked whether they had been diagnosed with, and treated for, depression/anxiety. They also provided information on potentially influential factors, including diet and physical activity levels.
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>At the check-ups, the mothers provided information on: whether they had ever breastfed or expressed milk for 1 day or more; total number of weeks of exclusive breastfeeding; total number of weeks of any breastfeeding; and cumulative periods of breastfeeding of less or more than 12 months.
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>Nearly three quarters of the women (73%; 122) reported having breastfed at some point. The average period of exclusive breastfeeding lasted 5.5 weeks and that of any breastfeeding for 30.5 weeks. More than a third (37.5%; 63) reported cumulative periods of breastfeeding adding up to at least 12 months.
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>Twenty two (13%) of the women reported depression/anxiety at  the 10-year check-up, with a further 35 (21%) reporting depression or anxiety at any time point.
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>Those reporting depression/anxiety at the 10 year check-up were younger,  less physically active, and had lower wellbeing scores at the start of the study than those who didn’t report this. Those women reporting depression and anxiety at any time point differed only by age at the start of the study.
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>Analysis of the data showed that women experiencing depression and anxiety 10 years after pregnancy were less likely to have breastfed and had shorter periods of any or exclusive breastfeeding over their lifetime.
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>**Each week of lifetime exclusive breastfeeding was associated with a 2% lower likelihood of reporting depression and anxiety, after accounting for potentially influential factors, including alcohol intake.**

[Breastfeeding and later depression and anxiety in mothers in Ireland: a 10-year prospective observational study | BMJ Open](https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/16/1/e097323)

I think the headline suggests causation where there may only be correlation.