this post was submitted on 13 Sep 2024
165 points (100.0% liked)

Health - Resources and discussion for everything health-related

2354 readers
110 users here now

Health: physical and mental, individual and public.

Discussions, issues, resources, news, everything.

See the pinned post for a long list of other communities dedicated to health or specific diagnoses. The list is continuously updated.

Nothing here shall be taken as medical or any other kind of professional advice.

Commercial advertising is considered spam and not allowed. If you're not sure, contact mods to ask beforehand.

Linked videos without original description context by OP to initiate healthy, constructive discussions will be removed.

Regular rules of lemmy.world apply. Be civil.

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
 

The surgeon general has a new public health warning. And this time, the hazard isn’t tobacco or alcohol: it’s parenting. 

Two-fifths of parents say that on most days, “they are so stressed they cannot function,” the Office of the Surgeon General reports in an advisory titled Parents Under Pressure. Roughly half of parents term that stress “completely overwhelming.” 

Those dire findings anchor a 35-page report, released in late August, that posits parental stress as “an urgent public health issue.” It draws on data from the American Psychological Association and other sources to build a case that parents are facing more stress than at perhaps any other time in recent history.

One-third of parents with children under 18 rate their stress level as 8 or higher on a 10-point scale, according to psychological association data. Two-fifths of parents report being “so stressed they feel numb.” Three-fifths say stress makes it hard to focus. Two-thirds are consumed by money woes.

top 18 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 43 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I mean, yeah, that makes sense. Financial issues have reached critical mass these last few years, especially with the post-COVID inflation surge. Supporting a family off a single income is pretty much just an urban legend at this point; you can't support a single child off DUAL income if you both work normal jobs.

And that's BEFORE we get into the growing societal issues about children having good spaces to play outside, being encouraged to play and interact with each other, constant republican attacks on the education system, and the looming threat of school shootings.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago

And childcare costs more than housing for a lot of families with multiple young kids.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I’ve truly never understood why people unthinkingly have children and then suffer them. The default should not be yes, it should be that you prove to yourself that it is an appropriate thing to do.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Reproduction is as basic an instinct as it gets. Humans are not robots. Rationality does not win out against instinct the vast majority of the time.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago (2 children)

And yet rationality is the defining characteristic of humanity.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

Maybe in a theoretical sense. In a practical, everyday sense not so much.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 2 months ago

I'd change that to the capacity for rationality.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

We know………………….we know.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 2 months ago

Parasites tend to do that to their host...

[–] [email protected] 13 points 2 months ago (1 children)
[–] TheMightyCanuck 2 points 2 months ago

Awesome! I needed this

[–] [email protected] 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Maybe it's just being alive is bad for your health? I don't even have kids and I'm terminally stressed out.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago (1 children)

You'd be more stressed with kids. That is not at all saying your life is easy now though.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

Think of kids as a stress multiplier. Whatever your stress level is, kids will 2-10x it.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 2 months ago

Yep all true. It's tough and parents are expected to just make it happen. A couple years ago the kid tax credit went up to help familes and instantly the daycare montly rate when up, so it didnt amount to anything.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 2 months ago

So now when people ask why I don't want kids, I can tell them it's for heath reasons!

[–] [email protected] 7 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

I fucking love my kid. She's incredible. And some days I kind of understand where Casey Anthony was coming from. Doesn't sound so outlandish. But outside of extreme cases, I probably cap out at about a 6.5/10. I feel like that's pretty good. It's those 8s and up that get you thinking about Casey Anthony.

(since people are increasingly unable to detect satire, I should probably get ahead of it and specify I don't actually fantasize about killing my kid)

[–] [email protected] 3 points 2 months ago

We have an awful time trying to handle our kids... I definitely understand that. Like right now, it's about to be bedtime, and as I am writing this, they are screaming and running around like mad men. On top of this dealing with all the issues they may have is also extra stress, like how my 1 kid has a few learning disabilities and trying to navigate all that without time or money to throw at it is extra exhausting. The one thing I like to think that is opposite of this article is that I sometimes think because I have to care for them may be the only reason I am still alive! It gives you purpose, whether you wanted it or not! Still I really really can't wait until they grow up a bit and this stage of craziness stops. I will probably regret this when it comes, but I am ready for the emotional teenager phase.