It’s not exactly a news
flash, but the American Psychological Association now acknowledges Covid-19
creates “extreme stress” in families, and that parents in particular report significantly
higher stress levels than their nonparent counterparts. This according to
corporate psychologist and executive coach Kate Snowise. Fortunately, in an
article for Fast Company, Dr. Snowise goes deeper, and offers some helpful,
quite easy to follow tips on how parents to get through the home stretch of the
pandemic.
As she puts it: “Working
parents are living through not merely a global pandemic but a new version of
the work/life balance conundrum. Parents of school-age children all over the
country are trying to manage distance learning for their kids while also keeping
up with work obligations and maintaining their sanity.” It’s all unprecedented,
which accounts for some of the anxiety. We’ve come a long way since March, but
we’re still in somewhat uncharted water.
READ MORE: Mindfulness for better parenting
Dr. Snowise points out that
Google searches “have shifted away from concerns around COVID itself at the
beginning of the pandemic to how we can deal with everything else that comes
with it.”
She advises planning
as much as possible: “Planning helps you psychologically prepare for the
demands you’re facing and put a strategy in place to know what it will take to
get it done or identify where you might need help.”
Forethought, she says,
“reduces the high-stress moments that can otherwise send us around the bend.”
Creating a weekly dinner plan can be a stress-reliever, for instance.
Dr. Snowise counsels us to be
mindful of our habits, emphasizing “emotion-focused coping” like
self-care and social connection. There are “positive and adaptive methods that
restore our emotional energy.” Not surprisingly, alcohol, overeating, and
doomscrolling are musts to avoid, or at the very least, kept in check.
Finally, Dr. Snowise joins
the chorus of mental health professionals urging us to practice gratitude. It
sounds easy, but especially with social media and cable news thriving on our
stress, and sense of injustice, finding a space to feel grateful can be hard.
She writes: “When we intentionally shift our focus to what we still have to be
thankful for, we pull the energy away from all the things we’re not happy about
or wish were different. Then we feel happier in our hearts, minds, and spirits.
It shifts the lens through which we are viewing our situation and enables us to
cope better.”
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