The U.S. Surgeon General has issued an advisory on the wellbeing of parents, saying “addressing parental mental healthconditions, and importantly the underlying stressors and causes, is critical for the well-being of children and society.”
Dr. Vivek H. Murthy, a father of two, also penned an opinion piece for the New York Times on his own experiences with parental stress, sharing, “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,” Murthy wrote.
Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General.
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He continued: “The stress and mental health challenges faced by parents — just like loneliness, workplace well-being and theimpact 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 he said he issued the advisory, in which he calls for “a national paid family and medical leave program and ensure all workers have paid sick time.”
The advisory also addresses a need to ensure that “parents and caregivers have access to comprehensive and affordable high-quality mental health care.”
In his piece for the NYT, Murthy cited a recent study by the American Psychological Association, which said that 48% of parents said “most days their stress is completely overwhelming.”
Stock image of a mom holding her child’s hand.
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The study also noted that 62% of parents say “no one understands how stressed out they are.”
Murthy added that the “traditional hardships of parenting” are now compounded by “new stressors, including omnipresent screens, a youth mental health crisis and widespread fear about the future.”
He called parenting a “team sport,” writing that support for parents is essential.
“Raising children is never going to be without worry,” he wrote in his opinion piece, but “reorienting our priorities in order to give parents and caregivers the support they need would do a lot to ensure the balance skews toward joy.”
