Research has found that women tend to experience and report high levels of poor mental health. These are due to various contributing factors, including their roles in everyday life (e.g. caregiving roles), in society (e.g. work opportunities and discrimination) and higher likelihood of trauma (e.g. sexual assualt).
In my clinical work with women, they have shown me their struggles and strengths, which have inspired me to write about them as well as to raise any platforms of therapeutic partnership that I am capable of contributing to.
I am writing the first of what I hope will be the start of many more articles, based on my clinical work with women and the available research to date.
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“Am I A Bad Mother?”: Recognising the Person Behind the Role
Mothers do so much, often juggling multiple roles which often involve caring for their children, immediate family, elderly family members, doing household chores, and paid employment on top of everything else.
Mothers often give their all, yet question themselves if they are doing enough and whether they are competence. Thoughts like “Am I doing enough?”, “Am I being a bad mother?” often ring through their minds. Oftentimes in my clinical work with these individuals, they hold various unhealthy expectations and beliefs about themselves.
In the process, individuals with motherly roles often forget their role as individuals – they forget their own emotional needs, theur dreams, their strengths. Most of all, they have merged with their caregiving roles and their sense of self as a person often hides silently in the background.
The downside is, the emotional mental health of these individuals are often affected. Research also shows that women’s common role associated with caregiving responsibilities is a common factor that contributes to a higher likelihood of mental health difficulties.
They may often experience the following:
-Feeling very stressed, overwhelmed, and “drowning”, or “suffocating”
-Feeling a lot of anxiety, worry, fear
-Low mood, energy, interest in pleasurable activities
-Easily irritable, angered
-Loneliness, hopelessness
If any of the above sounds like what you are going, or perhaps you are experiencing something that I have not listed, you are not alone!
Feel free to reach out – drop a comment in LinkedIn or drop me a text. As a woman myself with various roles and responsibilities, I can empathise what things can be like for you.
I have also designed a strength-based support-cum-self discovery group comprising fellow mothers which I will facilitate keep posted for further updates! Come by and feel validated by fellow mothers, while discovering your strengths and learn new skills. Do drop me a text and I can share more!