Self-Care for Caregivers and Parents

Key takeaways

• Finding the The Right Balance as a Stay-at-Home Mom

• Being a Mom with a Mental Illness

• Honoring all Moms

• Self-Care for the Caregiver

Finding the The Right Balance as a Stay-at-Home Mom

Moms and stay-at-home parents — this one’s for you! We’ll admit it’s been a tough 2020 so far. Many of us have had to adjust to a new routine and way of life that requires more energy and mental focus than we’re used to giving. And even with businesses now reopening and some parents slowly migrating back to the office, you might feel the social pressure to stay behind to help your kids race to the final push before graduation or avoid going out for fear of getting you or loved ones sick.

Between working your office job from home, performing regular household duties (i.e. meal planning, laundry, cleaning, etc.) and helping your kids prepare for finals, there’s much more responsibilities to juggle these days. And if that wasn’t enough, you might also be dealing with stress and anxiety of what may lie ahead.

So, how do you find the right balance? The good news is you’re not alone, and despite the nagging voice in your head, you’re doing a great job! The key to better mental health and wellness is finding coping techniques that allow you to stay positive, keep focused, and set realistic goals you can complete by the end of each day.

Being a Mom with a Mental Illness

As the flowers begin to bloom around us, it’s hard to ignore the resilience and beauty of nature. It seems fitting that we celebrate Mother’s Day this time of year, as mothers personify this same resilience and strength—despite the many ups and downs of parenting.

Raising children is one of life’s most rewarding yet toughest responsibilities. Unlike a 9-5 job, you can’t clock out when your shift is over or call in sick. Instead, you work tirelessly to ensure your kids are both happy and healthy, but this isn’t always an easy task. And living with a mental illness can make the job that much harder.

Understanding How Mental Health Affects Parenting With the constant juggling of raising a family, managing a career, and trying to be a role model to your kids, you may begin to experience a variety of mental health care concerns.

Honoring all Moms

Just as we know eventually, spring will arrive; we know that the second Sunday in May is Mother’s Day in America. You might wonder how this day got started except by the card, candy, and flower companies. It started with humbler and less commercial origins. Julia Ward Howe sponsored Mother’s Day around 1870 to encourage women to embrace pacifism and disarmament. The holiday didn’t take hold until 1907. Anna Jarvis wanted to improve health conditions in Grafton, West Virginia, where she lived. She celebrated the life of her mother by organizing a private celebration.

This celebration of her mother launched “Mother’s Day Work Clubs in the effort for health issues to be more widely recognized. President Wilson signed a law on May 8, 1914 “designating the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day”. In your life, you probably knew women who were maternal figures, either by choice or blood. You may have children of your own or were maternal figures to other people’s children. You may have had to learn how to be a mother to yourself and others. You might be male and have had to provide nurturing to your family or friends.

Just as Julia Ward Howe and Ann Jarvis wanted to bring awareness to social issues they thought were important at the time, we can bring our own unique lens to Mother’s Day. We can campaign for our own comfort and those of others we love. How will you celebrate the “Moms” in your life, past or present?

Self-Care for the Caregiver

Each November, we celebrate National Family Caregivers Month by honoring caregivers across the U.S. This is a time to recognize the efforts of family members caring for a loved one and call attention to the need for caregiver support. For any number of reasons, those who take care of others often neglect their own well-being. MHCS wants to shine a light on this issue and offer tips on self-care for the caregiver.

Many times, caring for an older or disabled loved one is a family responsibility. These caregivers also work but carve out time to help vulnerable or ailing relatives, usually providing care for several years. Each day, a family caregiver assists or performs a host of duties as an act of kindness or devotion to an aging parent or other family member with physical, intellectual, or developmental limitations.

Over the last handful of years, the number of caregivers in the U.S. has significantly increased. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving , the number of Americans providing unpaid care jumped from 43.5 million in 2015 to 53 million in 2020.

When to reach out

If symptoms are affecting relationships, work, school, sleep, or daily routines, professional support can help you sort through what is happening and choose a realistic next step.

MHCS provides therapy and mental health support for individuals, couples, families, teens, and adults.