Overview

Life during the pandemic has caused stress, anxiety, depression and had a huge impact on people making them vulnerable to elevated mental health symptoms. These symptoms include being upset or agitated, feeling hopeless, lacking interest and pleasure, feeling fearful and worried, as well as being more irritable, over-reactive and impatient. 

Today, we will discuss the effects of Covid-19 on the mental health of parents with Ms. Sana Akbar Amaan – A psychotherapist. She will be explaining how parents can deal with stress and anxiety caused by Covid-19 and why parenting therapy is so important?

According to Ms. Sana, “Due to the pandemic, people lost jobs, shifted to remote work while taking care of their children. During all this time, people witnessed different personalities of their family members/partners which they had never seen before”. Parents were trying to juggle between work and child-care duties while keeping up with economic and financial stressors which caused a lot of depression and anxiety for parents. They started to seem more aggressive which resulted in exhaustion, mental distress, burnout, emotionally distancing from their children, loss of parental efficacy and a sense of no achievement.  A US study demonstrated worsening parental mental health functioning throughout the course of the pandemic, with 1 in 4 parents reporting increased psychological distress (Patrick et al., 2020).

Tips for Parents to Deal with Children

Ms. Sana has shared some useful tips for parents to deal with the emotional changes caused by the pandemic.

1.     The first rule for parents especially mothers is to take out time for themselves. Going out for a small walk, having a cup of coffee or a favourite meal, or simply meeting friends will give a good break from routine life.

2.     As parents discover new things about themselves during the pandemic, they should maintain their patience levels while dealing with their children and communicate positively with them to avoid negative mental health outcomes.

3.     Have a healthy lifestyle to reduce mental distress such as exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet and sleeping adequately.

4.    Parents should listen to their kids, ask questions and maintain dialogue. This will demonstrate love and care for their children. Simultaneously, building a strong relationship with the partner and sharing parental responsibility has a positive impact on children. They begin to look at their parents as a team and thus, they will feel more confident about themselves.

6.     Children need love, time and undivided attention. A parent has the most significant influence on their children’s lives and it’s up to the parents to help them feel secure and build their confidence.

7.     Parents must keep themselves calm and resolve problems in a cool manner. This teaches children emotional intelligence and helps them understand how to control emotions.

8.     Being flexible with children is key. Both the child and the parent will benefit from a more "go-with-the-flow" attitude.

9.  Engaging and showing interest in the activities children are passionate about is a good way to spend time together. This shows the children that they are a priority to their parents. Initiating interactive activities, such as playing board games, enjoying outdoor activities, or simply chatting with the children to make the most of the time together. Practising mindfulness, paying attention to their own body, knowing their own self-esteem and seeing a therapist, if required are all helpful tips parents can offer their children if they are self-aware and the lines of communication between them and their children are healthy and open.

How Do I Know If I Need Parenting Counseling?

Undoubtedly, parenting is tough and it can worsen the stress level. Tension, anxiety and strain, when combined with lack of sleep and poor lifestyle choices, can lead to parenting issues. Most parents remain unaware and may not realize they require professional help. Bringing the matter to their attention will help them acknowledge the problem and seek outside assistance.

Parents may require therapy due to multiple circumstances:

• Past abuse

• Marital issues

• Health problems

• Children issues

• Financial difficulties

• Lack of sleep

• Relocation to a new home/school

A parent who stays home with a child may feel overworked. They may resent the other parent for working outside the home. This can strain a partnership. Parenting is also often physically demanding. Parents with young children may spend much of their day performing household tasks. Therefore, look for signs like resentment towards their own children, breakdowns, questioning their own parenting method, aggression, arguments, weight gain or loss, delayed monthly cycle in women and many more.

Conclusion

Being a parent means, portraying appropriate behaviour all the time as parents are children’s first mentors. They mimic their parents’ behaviour all the time, therefore it is important for them to portray healthy and positive behaviour in front of their children. Nevertheless, parents are not perfectionists and they can make mistakes, they should teach their children that making mistakes is acceptable but learning from them and asking for help is important.

Seeking parenting therapy will help to provide guidance and support parents’ need to provide a stable and healthy childhood experience for their child. Good therapy will not only help the parent but the family as a whole. Seeking therapy will help manage uncontrollable anger, depression, chronic worry, anxiety, mood swings and stress.

To book an online or physical therapy session with one of our therapists, visit www.shifaam.com and click on the FIND A THERAPIST tab or download the Shifaam HealthApp now from Google Play (bit.ly/2JqZo3C)or the iOS App Store (apple.co/2QUVxQz) today!