Beyond the Stigma of Parenting with Anxiety

I find it inspiring to see other parents who have anxiety taking proactive steps to facilitate and create a life that includes trying to thrive despite anxiety. Parenting is not an easy task and when you factor in living with a mental illness, the challenges can be different. The stigma attached to mental illness often ignites the feelings of shame that makes parents reluctant to seek support and help for their anxiety. This can perpetuate the feelings of isolation that make parents feel like no one else is going through what they are going through every day. Guilt plagues the self-esteem of parents and can make them feel like they are failing. The feelings of guilt that come from their inability to take their children on big adventures due to social anxiety or agoraphobia can be consuming. When anxious parents compare themselves to other parents who don’t have anxiety, it can leave them feeling like they just don’t measure up in comparison. Many worry about the affect their anxiety is having on their children, which initiates a never-ending cycle of worry on top of worry that feels like there is no end.   The thoughts and feelings associated with anxiety can be overwhelming. Carrying the load of those thoughts and feelings while trying to show up in life as a parent can be an unnerving task. How do you cope with anxiety while sitting at your child’s sports practice? How do you navigate through the panic attack while trying to prepare dinner, bathe your children, and...
Source: World of Psychology - Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Tags: Anxiety and Panic Parenting Stigma Guilt Source Type: blogs