Having children can be very tiring, and anyone who has them can confirm that this is a reality for most parents. Among all the pending things to do, caring for children, caring for oneself and everything that arises on the fly, there may come a point where we feel overwhelmed.
For some years, we started talking about the burnout syndrome in mothers, however, there was no research about it. Now, a study proves that "parental burnout" is real and we can even experience different levels of it.
What is burnout syndrome?
The word "burnout"was previously used in the workplace, to refer to those people who reached the point of extreme exhaustion, also calling it "professional wear syndrome". According to Wikipedia, "a prolonged response of stress in the body to the emotional and interpersonal stressors that occur at work, which includes chronic fatigue, inefficiency and denial of what happened."
In Babies and more The invisible work of mothers: this influences the mental burden on our emotional healthThe term began to spread to mothers, because they presented many of the symptoms of burnout due to the burden that often falls on them, causing them to feel exhausted and overwhelmed. Symptoms of burnout syndrome include: muscle aches, recurrent headaches, insomnia, gastrointestinal disorders, anxiety, emotional isolation, feeling frustrated, as well as reluctance and desire to cry.
Actually, it is not surprising that many mothers suffer from it, as several studies have shown that the fatigue we constantly feel is due to the great physical and mental burden we have when having children. Than While it is a wonderful experience, it is still stressful, and one in which we work 98 hours a week.
The study
Now, this research is the first to analyze and investigate burnout in both mothers and fathers, conducted through a survey organized by researchers from Belgium. In her, confirm that burnout not only affects the workplace, but also those who have children.
There were 2,000 parents participating, measuring three different levels of burnout: low, medium and high. To find the level of each participant, a series of questions were used in burnout tests at work, but adapted to the role of parents, which It included various aspects about your emotional and physical state, as well as the frequency of certain symptoms.
In Babies and more "I am the one in charge", the publication about the mental burden of mothers that has gone viralIt was found that 56.2% of them (55.3% in the case of mothers and 62.5% in the case of fathers) had a low level of burnout, 31.1% (31.8% of mothers and 25.9% of fathers) they had a medium level, while 12.7% of the fathers (12.9% the mothers and 11.6% of the fathers) had a high level of burnout.
The researchers believe that The presence of parental burnout in recent years is because the pressure on parents has increased, combined with the lack of time now that fewer mothers stay at home, making the role of both parents more challenging.
They conclude that although yes it is real and it is something that definitely needs to be taken into account to find ways to avoid it, it is still necessary to do more studies that analyze this problem that many parents suffer.
Photos | iStock
Via | CNN
In Babies and more | Living with children can be exhausting for women, but not for men, When you tell yourself that you will not have any more children because it is exhausting and over time you forget and want to have another one!
