For recently wed couples or couples in general, after the white-veiled occasion, the dream of finally building their own family and living in their own rfo house and lot space is next on the list. And when you are finally been blessed to have your little ones, life gets much more fulfilling. This symbolizes a new beginning, bound by love, companionship, and shared responsibilities.
However, no matter how some people romanticize parenting, the negative effect of it on some parents’ mental health is evident. While becoming a parent is a dream come true, it doesn’t mean that the journey of becoming one will be all easy.
Once you become a parent, you’ll realize the heavy responsibilities you must bear. Oftentimes than not, parents feel these indescribable feelings and they can’t somehow do anything about it since they don’t have any idea how to describe it. But it is there, a lingering feeling that affects their performance as a parent.
Lucky you, this article will talk about what that feeling is, its symptoms, who can experience it, how to overcome it, and ways to help people move past it.
What is parental burnout?
Parental burnout is a state of mental, physical, and emotional exhaustion experienced by parents as a result of prolonged stress and overwhelming responsibilities. This can somehow impact how parents deal with their children. It can be because of several reasons and may result in fatigue and irritability.
It is a new syndrome discovered by researchers to explain and validate the feelings of parents. Yes, one of the dreams is to have a family, a child of your own, however, it is valid to feel the exhaustion it brings for raising a kid is not really an easy job.
And you’re not alone in this. There are available researches online that have proved that this, even though newly named, is not a brand new phenomenon for it is experienced by parents all across the globe.
What are the symptoms of Parental Burnout?
And since the knowledge about this is not that extensive, it is hard to spot the symptoms of parental burnout. It’s important to take a little step back and assess yourself. To help you evaluate yourself properly regarding this matter, here are the symptoms that you might want to look out for to avoid parental burnout from going worst to worse.
- Exhaustion
- Overwhelmed
- Disconnection
- Feelings of Shame and Guilt
- Brain fog
- Impatience
- Sleeping issues
- Loss of motivation
How do you treat parental burnout?
After shedding light on the symptoms of parental burnout that parents may experience, here are some ways you can counter that and get past that challenging phase.
Seek Support
For it to be solved, you need to address that it is there and that you are experiencing it. However, seeking support may be the easiest yet the hardest thing to do. If you want to overcome parental burnout, you can start by seeking pieces of advice from family, close friends, and even from professionals who can give you support and understanding.
Set realistic expectations
Being a parent becomes much more challenging when you set high unrealistic expectations for yourself because oftentimes, parental burnout can happen when it is not met. Set more realistic expectations that are easier to achieve so that you don’t feel bad about yourself if you can’t meet them. Remember, there is no such thing as a perfect parent; you just get better and better at it.
Self-care is essential
The obligation of being a parent is a heavy task that you carry on your shoulders, but you also need to remember that taking care of yourself is as important as that of your children. If you feel heavy or exhausted, pause and relax even just for a bit.
Self-compassion
Celebrate small parental achievements and focus on the positives rather than the opposite. You are doing great so allow yourself to enjoy the moment rather than stressing over the things that you failed to do. Give yourself a tap on your shoulder for you’re able to rock parenting.
Prioritize Sleep
Counter parental burnout by making sure that you are having enough amount of sleep. This is to make sure that for the next day, you have enough energy to deal with your kids and to go on with the day just fine.
Keep your body moving
As a parent, it is necessary to keep your body moving. Cleaning your rfo house and lot or doing the laundry is not considered moving your body. What it meant is engaging yourself with physical activities like exercise, yoga, pilates, dancing, or zumba. Doing so will make you realize that exercising and keeping yourself fit has a huge effect on how you can improve your overall well-being.
How do you help someone with parental burnout?
There are certain ways to be of help to someone who’s experiencing parental burnout. One of the most effective and simplest ways of doing so is by lending your ear and listening to your loved ones. Let the conversation flow and help them validate their feelings instead of brushing it all off. Another way is by encouraging them to take breaks from time to time to refresh their whole body and mind. With these actions, supported by compassion, patience, and understanding, you will be able to help a burnout parent go through this obstacle.
Bottomline
As parents, may it be your first time or not, it is so much harder to avoid this kind of situation especially when you have no outlet for what you are feeling. You are most likely the easiest target for this, however, this doesn’t mean that it can’t be avoided.
Acknowledge the fact that you as parents also need time for yourselves. You shouldn’t deprive yourself of a well-deserved break. You won’t be called a bad parent for that, no. In order to give your best self to your kids, you need to relax and cleanse your mind to remove unnecessary feelings and avoid uncalled bursts outs.
