Surgeon general: Need for ‘fundamental shift’ to prioritize mental health of parents
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Key takeaways:
- According to HHS, 33% of parents reported high levels of stress in the past month vs. 20% of other adults.
- The advisory calls for HCPs to prioritize preventive care and screen for mental health conditions.
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek H. Murthy, MD, MBA, has issued an advisory calling for a “fundamental shift” in how the well-being and mental health of parents and caregivers are valued and prioritized.
“Parents have a profound impact on the health of our children and the health of society,” Murthy said in an HHS press release. “Yet parents and caregivers today face tremendous pressures, from familiar stressors such as worrying about their kids’ health and safety and financial concerns, to new challenges like navigating technology and social media, a youth mental health crisis, an epidemic of loneliness that has hit young people the hardest. As a father of two kids, I feel these pressures too.”
According to HHS, parents have endured increasing levels of stress over the last decade, as 33% of parents reported high levels of stress in the past month vs. 20% of other adults.
Severe and prolonged stress in adults can also adversely affect children, HSS added. For example, children of parents with mental health conditions may be at a greater risk for depression and anxiety symptoms and earlier onset, recurrence and prolonged functional impairment.
Murthy highlighted various stressors that parents and caregivers experience, such as time demands, financial strain and economic instability, cultural pressures, concerns about children’s health and safety, isolation and loneliness and difficulty managing social media and technology. Policy changes and expanded community programs are needed to better support parents and give them access to paid time off to be with a child, mental health care and affordable child care, Murthy wrote in the advisory.
The advisory provided several recommendations for health care professionals to better address parental well-being and mental health. These include:
- prioritizing preventive care;
- recognizing parents and caregivers who may be at a higher risk for mental health conditions;
- screening parents and caregivers for mental health conditions;
- creating partnerships with community organizations that provide support and resources for parents and caregivers; and
- supporting interdisciplinary partnerships between primary care and mental health professionals.
The advisory also called for studies to greater improve and prevent mental health conditions.
“In my conversations with parents and caregivers across America, I have found guilt and shame have become pervasive, often leading them to hide their struggles, which perpetuates a vicious cycle where stress leads to guilt, which leads to more stress,” Murthy wrote.
“Our cultural norms must also support us talking more openly about the challenges parents face and building more community for parents whose disproportionately high levels of loneliness compound the day-to-day challenges they face,” he added. “Raising children is sacred work. It should matter to all of us. And the health and well-being of those who are caring for our children should matter to us as well.”
References:
- Parents under pressure: The U.S. surgeon general advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents. https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/parents-under-pressure.pdf. Accessed Aug. 28, 2024.
- U.S. surgeon general issues advisory on the mental health and well-being of parents. https://www.hhs.gov/about/news/2024/08/28/us-surgeon-general-issues-advisory-mental-health-well-being-parents.html. Published Aug. 28, 2024. Accessed Aug. 28, 2024.
Perspective
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Supporting parents is an essential but long ignored component of child well-being. The surgeon general's call to support working parents to care for their children and themselves will only have a substantial impact if there are increased protections for parents in low-wage, gig-economy and part-time employment; these parents experience disproportionate rates of emotional and behavioral stressors, including mental health and physical health diagnoses.
Physicians can support the surgeon general's call by hiring mental health professionals and case managers to provide services in their clinics. When parents bring children in for routine or urgent care, physicians can check in with parents, acknowledging the emotional and financial stressors of caring for a sick child. When adults come in for their own appointments, physicians can inquire about stressors related to their children. In doing so, the physician acknowledges the adult as a parent, and opens the door for conversations about impossible referrals for more holistic care consistent with the spirit of the surgeon general's recommendation.
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