If you're a working mom, we're sure you exert all efforts to still spend time with your kids while going up the career ladder, but what if your wish to take care of them and do well at your job at the same time could be wreaking havoc on your health? A study presented at the annual meeting of the American Sociology Association shows that while working contributes positively to moms' mental health, those who attempt to become "supermoms" get more depressed."If you think you can have it all, don't," Katrina Leupp, sociology graduate student at the University of Washington and author of the study, is quoted as saying. "Maybe knowing that you can almost have it all is the better way."
She examined the lives of 1,600 working and stay-at-home moms who joined the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth in 1979 and stated how they felt about women's employment. She compared their answers to their levels of depression at 40 and found that while working moms had better mental health than stay-at-home moms, a portion of them who aspired to be "supermoms" were more likely to be depressed.
Instead of pushing yourself to do everything even when it's affecting your health, therefore, learn the value of compromise and balance. Leupp suggests letting go of certain aspects of both your home and work lives to improve your mental health. For example, don't attempt to do overtime at work if you've just attended your kid's school fair. If you know what to give up and what to focus on, you'll be able to manage your life better and be the supermom that you already are--without the additional stress.
Want to read more articles about managing your stress, FN moms? Try these articles:
- Bye-Bye, Burnout: Schedule Your Downtime for Better Work-Life Balance
- Burnout Busters: 3 Tips to Avoid Working Yourself to Exhaustion
- 10 Tips for Working Moms
- 6 Steps to Work-Life balance
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(Photo by sean dreilinger via Flickr Creative Commons)
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