Juggling Mental Health and Parenthood

Suffering from a mental health disorder can be a difficult experience, but adding being a parent to it can make it much more difficult to manage your mental health. Juggling being a parent and taking care of your mental health is a difficult and delicate balance because you still have to care for your children while trying to manage your mental health. In this article, we will look at some tips to help you with juggling your mental health and parenthood.

Gauging Parenting and Mental Health

Parenting is not an easy job, no matter how well-behaved your children are. It can be hard sometimes to gauge your own mental health while you juggle raising your kids, working, and life in general. However, there are a few signs that you can keep an eye out for when gauging your mental health.

• Your temper is shorter than normal.
• You cry more than usual.
• You have trouble focusing on tasks that are routine and used to be easy to do.
• You regularly fall behind on routine household chores like dishes or laundry.
• You dread handling simple tasks or getting out of bed.
• You are fighting with your spouse more than normal.
• You have lost joy in your favorite activities.
• Your spouse has expressed concerns about your mental health.
• Normal activities with your children have become exhausting or unbearable.
• You have stopped caring about things that mattered, like doing well at work.
• You are exhausted.
• You have a decreased tolerance for physical touch.

If one or more of these things applies to you, you might want to spend some time evaluating your mental health.

Tips to Balance Parenting and Mental Health

You might not notice right away that your mental health is beginning to suffer since so much of being a parent involves focusing on your children and their wellbeing. However, if you feel like your mental health is beginning to suffer, it might be getting harder and harder to help your kids or do things for them. These tips can help you juggle your mental health and being a parent.

Make Time for Yourself

Life can be hectic, especially if you are a parent. However, you absolutely must make time for yourself anyways. Carve out a little bit of time each week to do something that you enjoy. Take a walk, read a book, take a bubble bath; whatever it is that you love to do, make sure you carve out some time to spend on something you love. Even if you can only make time for 15 minutes in a day, those 15 minutes can make an impact on your mental health.

Try an Anxiety Relief App

If you suffer from panic attacks or anxiety, an anxiety relief app can be a big help with managing your mental health. You can also look into guided meditation apps to help you center yourself when you are overly stressed.

Consider Seeing a Professional

If you are showing signs of a mental health disorder, it is a good idea to consider seeing a mental health professional. Many therapists offer video sessions too, which can make it a little easier to sneak in time for therapy. In addition to the above strategies, another vital step is understanding when and how to seek professional support. Start your journey by searching keywords like “find a therapist near me,” as this can be beneficial, especially when navigating the complexities of parenthood intertwined with mental health challenges. A therapist can act as your sounding board, and they can also help you find better coping mechanisms than you currently have, which can help you manage your mental health a little better. If you take medications, they can also help you assess whether or not they are working as well as they should be or if you need to have them adjusted or be prescribed new ones.

Ask for Help

It is okay to ask for help when you are struggling. If you have a spouse or partner, do not be afraid to ask them to take on a little more of the load, even if only temporarily, so that you can improve your mental health. If you are a single parent, try to find a support system to help take some of the burdens from you when needed.

You can also consider hiring a sitter once a week to give yourself a break for an evening from the kids, to spend some time on yourself, or with your partner. You are not a bad parent for wanting a short break from your kids to take care of yourself. Parenting does not mean losing yourself or surrendering your identity.

Related reading: 7 Magical Things to Ensure Good Mental Health for Your Baby

Final Thoughts

As a parent, you want to help your children grow and flourish, but that does not mean you should neglect yourself in the process. Make sure you make the time to do what you need to do for your mental health because ignoring it until it becomes a problem will impact your children a lot more than taking the time now to help yourself. Being a parent and managing your mental health is a juggling act, but it is doable if you are able to find ways to help you manage it.

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About the Author: Auz Burger is a freelance writer and an expert in mental health. She has a BA from Washington State University and has been writing and editing professionally for over a decade.

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