U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory Wednesday warning about the mental health dangers associated with parenting due to the high levels of stress that come with arguably the most important job in the world.
Murthy pointed to a survey from the American Psychological Association finding that 48 percent of parents say most days their stress is completely overwhelming. Forty-one percent of parents, meanwhile, said their stress level is so high they cannot function.
When I became a parent, a friend told me I was signing up for a lifetime of joy and worry. The joys are indeed abundant, but as fulfilling as parenting has been, the truth is it has also been more stressful than any job I’ve had. I’ve had many moments of feeling lost and exhausted. So many parents I encounter as I travel across America tell me they have the same experience: They feel lucky to be raising kids, but they are struggling, often in silence and alone.
The stress and mental health challenges faced by parents — just like loneliness, workplace well-being and the impact of social media on youth mental health — aren’t always visible, but they can take a steep toll. It’s time to recognize they constitute a serious public health concern for our country. Parents who feel pushed to the brink deserve more than platitudes. They need tangible support. That’s why I am issuing a surgeon general’s advisory to call attention to the stress and mental health concerns facing parents and caregivers and to lay out what we can do to address them. (The New York Times)
Murthy said the well-being of parents is also “directly linked” to the well-being of their children, as the stress of caregivers can be passed on to them in “direct and indirect ways,” thus impacting families and communities.
“Something has to change,” he says in the advisory. “Supporting parents and caregivers will require a series of thoughtful policy changes and expanded community programs that will help ensure parents and caregivers can get time off to be with a sick child, secure affordable child care, access reliable mental health care, and benefit from places and initiatives that support social connection and community.”
Murthy said it’s just as important to change the cultural norms concerning parenting.
“The work of raising a child is work, no less valuable than the work performed in a paid job and of extraordinary value when it comes to the impact on the future of society,” he added. “Additionally, while parents and caregivers bear the primary responsibility for raising children, society as a whole must see itself as sharing in this responsibility—and shaping policy, programs, and individual behavior accordingly.”
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