Many stay-at-home moms can feel isolated and lonely, explains Stacey Wright, a psychotherapist who specializes in maternal mental health, among other topics.
Being a stay-at-home mom comes with many rewards, but the job—yes, being a stay-at-home mom is definitely a job—can be challenging, lonely and isolating, and some women even feel a loss of identity. Sometimes, being a stay-at-home mom is even associated with depression.
Many parents who choose to stay at home with their children may experience feelings of isolation, loneliness, loss of identity, and feelings of sadness that may feel like depression.
A study by the British Red Cross found that more than eight in 10 mothers (83%) under the age of 30 had feelings of loneliness some of the time, while 43% said they felt lonely all the time. Another survey found that 90% of new mothers felt lonely since giving birth, with over half (54%) feeling they had no friends.
If you are feeling overwhelmed as a mom, you are not alone. The “depleted mother syndrome” is a term used to describe the feeling of exhaustion and depletion that many mothers experience. It is a very real phenomenon, and it can have a significant impact on a mother's ability to function.
In fact you might see the acronym SAHP pop up from time to time (it's short for “stay-at-home parent”). Of course, historically, more moms fall into this role: According to data from PEW Research Center in 2016, only 7 percent of dads stayed home to take care of the kids, compared to 27 percent of moms.
According to a recent Harvard Research Study that provides data from two cross-national social surveys of more than 100,000 men and women from 29 countries, working moms can breathe a sigh of relief – evidence suggests that children of working moms grow up to be just as happy as children of stay-at-home moms.
Children who have a parent who stays at home may achieve better academic performance. One study found that 10th-grade children who had a parent stay at home when they were young achieved better grades in school than those who had working parents working away from home during early childhood.
While stay-at-home moms can experience a range of mental health issues (including burnout and anxiety), depression is especially common. However, there are ways to make experiencing depression and other mental health issues less likely and also effective solutions available to anyone who is experiencing them.
According to the survey, the typical stay-at-home mom works almost 97 hours a week, spending 13.2 hours as a day-care teacher; 3.9 hours as household CEO; 7.6 hours as a psychologist; 14.1 hours as a chef; 15.4 as a housekeeper; 6.6 hours doing laundry; 9.5 hours as a PC-or-Mac operator; 10.7 hours as a facilities ...
As with most aspects of pregnancy and the postpartum period, there's no one-size-fits-all rule on when to return to work after birth, and every new mom's situation will be different. Some moms return to work just a few weeks after having a baby, while others take up to a year (or longer) of maternity leave.
“Being alone helps you become more comfortable in your own skin,” Morins tells Forbes. “When you're by yourself, you can make choices without outside influences. And that will help you develop more insight into who you are as a person.” Holding this degree of self-awareness and resilience is key to a happier life.
Nearly a quarter of American mothers now identify as stay-at-home parents—a sharp rise from the 15% in 2022, according to a large survey of US women conducted by Motherly, an advocacy group.
There are a few reasons for feeling lonely even when surrounded by friends and family: You hide your true self. You have a history of being misunderstood or judged. Perhaps you feel insecure about certain aspects of your personality.
Yes, it is a privilege to be able to be with my kids each day. And it's also true that being a stay-at-home mom involves a lot of sacrifices. For me, the key to enjoying this role and finding purpose as a stay-at-home mom is making peace with this paradox.
The stay-at-home mom doesn't have to be the one who does everything. Don't try to. If I tried to accomplish every single household task while raising children, I'm pretty sure I would end up self-medicating like the housewives of the 1950's and 60's did.
Take Breaks Regularly
Being a mom is a 24/7 job. This can become exhausting. How often should stay-at-home moms get a break? The answer is three times a day, at least.
Research backs her observations. A Gallup poll found stay-at-home moms have higher rates of worry, sadness, stress and depression than working moms.
Overall, there is a small difference in happiness of homemakers and working mothers but there is a large cross-national variation. The model suggests that 95 percent of random coefficients lie in a range between -0.188 and 0.175, i.e. the odds ratios are likely to range from 0.82 to 1.19.
There were approximately 68,500 families with stay-at-home fathers. This represented 4% of two-parent families. In comparison, there were 495,600 families with stay-at-home mothers (if the same definition is applied to mothers), which was 31% of two-parent families.
SAHM is an acronym for a stay-at-home mom. Typically, a SAHM is a woman who cares for the children while the other partner is working outside the home. Similar, more antiquated terms are a homemaker or housewife, although some people still embrace these monikers for this role.
Don't ever underestimate the challenges a stay-at-home mom faces on a daily basis. In fact, new research has found that many people find staying at home with your children HARDER than going into work!
Symptoms of Mommy Burnout
Extreme mental fatigue or physical exhaustion. Being “short tempered” Feeling emotionally depleted.