New Study Shows How Much Parents Are Suffering During the Pandemic

What many thought would be a short-term matter poured over into 2021. Working parents are now trapped in a challenging situation having to make difficult choices between family and career. Regardless of gender or race, they fear being adversely criticized by employers simply because they are parents.

As a result, parents are concerned as they try to balance remote learning with full-time employment. It brings many to question how much parents are flailing during the pandemic.

More parents are concerned about their capability to keep things going steady without neglecting their kids and their job obligations. 

Working parents claim they feel bad because they can't adequately care for their children, and some feel guilty because they're not concentrating on their job commitments while tending for their families.

In a new study made by the American Psychological Association, those stresses and other factors have made a significant toll on the mental and physical health of parents who have kids under the age of 18 at their own home.

READ: Stress Relievers: 11 Extremely Effective Ways to Gain Relief

According to the same study, parents whose children were still studying remotely were among those who were struggling the most emotionally, which included over 3,000 participants.

According to the survey, 75% of respondents would have preferred more emotional support than they received in 2020. During the pandemic, parents were more likely to be diagnosed with a mental health condition than non-parents.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, 8 out of 10 fathers (80 percent) have registered unwanted weight shifts, compared to 66 percent of mothers. In particular, 55% of fathers said they had gained weight, with an average gain of 45 pounds (median of 20 pounds).

On the other hand, 47% of mothers reported gaining weight, with an average of 27 pounds gained (median of 15 pounds).

Fathers (87%) were also more likely than mothers (77%) to claim they have slept less or more than they expected since the pandemic began and that they have consumed more alcohol to cope with stress (48 percent of fathers vs. 29 percent of mothers).

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How much parents are flailing may be addressed. Here's how.

STAY HEALTHY in three ways.

• Self-care

Throughout the day, practice self-care in 15- or 30-minute intervals and encourage your children to do the same. This may be anything as easy as going for a quick walk, calling a friend, or watching a funny show.

• Communicate

Maintain contact with your family members, as well as your friends and relatives. This will assist you in building emotional maturity so that you can meet your children's needs.

• Device-free family time

Try hosting a family-friendly device-free activity, such as cooking and eating dinner together or playing a board game. When participating in an activity, kids are more likely to talk about their experiences.

However, the community recognizes the substantial limitations of self-care, which is inadequate to provide parents with the assistance they need. Parents may mentally "scaffold" themselves, but without clinical support from a therapist, they will not be able to control their exhaustion or self-destructive behaviors.

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