Thursday this week the US Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, issued an advisory on a topic that will now be a current priority of the office of the Surgeon General. That topic is one near and dear to many people’s current experiences, the mental health and well-being of parents.

NEW: As a father of two young children, I know the joys of parenting—but I also know the stress, loneliness, & uncertainty of parenting in a rapidly changing world. Today, I issued a Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents https://t.co/Cb6SatT7bH pic.twitter.com/7724EqJb7L

— Dr. Vivek Murthy, U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) August 28, 2024

Prevalence

The advisory opens with this really astonishing set of numbers, cited from the American Psychological Association’s November 2023 infographic on stress of parents compared to other adults:

When stress is severe or prolonged, it can have a deleterious effect; 41% of parents say that most days they are so stressed they cannot function and 48% say that most days their stress is completely overwhelming compared to other adults (20% and 26%, respectively).

U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents,
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/parents-under-pressure.pdf

Put that in context – if you have a team of 10 colleagues at work who are parents, today 4 of them feel so stressed they cannot function, and 5 of them feel completely overwhelmed by stress. If you are on a team with 5 parents, that’s 2 and 2-3 of them. That’s not to say the numbers are good if your team is made up of non-parents (2 of 10 of them, and 2-3 of them, respectively). Still ridiculously high numbers for a time in history that is supposedly one of peace and prosperity in this country.

Stressors

The primary stressor categories were:

1. Financial
2. Time
3. Children’s health 
4. Children’s safety
5. Parental isolation
6. Technology/social media
7. Expectations and children’s futures

Yep, finances were the first stressor category, with subcategories of child care costs, health and education expenses, employment insecurity, and income insecurity.

Financial worries continue to be a top stressor among parents

U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents,
https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/parents-under-pressure.pdf

If we don’t make changes

What are the outcomes of chronic and/or excessive stress?

Chronic or excessive stress, coupled with other complex environmental and biological factors, can increase the risk of mental health conditions for individuals.

U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory on the Mental Health and Well-Being of Parents

What I wish had been mentioned, and wasn’t, was the additional burden that comes from chronic and/or excessive stress, and that’s an increased risk of physical health conditions. From Mayo Clinic, those include:

• Digestive problems
• Headaches
• Muscle tension and pain
• Heart disease, heart attack, high blood pressure and stroke
• Sleep problems
• Weight gain
• Problems with memory and focus

The consequences of these may therefore not all resolve even once the stress has reduced or resolved, so it’s important to head these off as early as possible by getting that stress reduced.

Learn more

You can read the entirety of the Surgeon General’s warning here.

What about you?

Are you a parent suffering from one or more of these challenges? What if getting a better understanding of your finances helped removed financial strain from your mental health burden? Would the prospect of a reduction of your stress be worth reaching out for help?