PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) -- According to the American Psychological Association, people with children under 18 years old are feeling significantly higher levels of stress than people without children.
The past seven months have been overwhelming for Jenn, who declined to give her last name. Her 16-year-old twin daughters are juniors in high school.
“There’s the mental health. It’s the stress. It’s the not knowing,” she said.
Jenn was temporarily out of work. She’s concerned about her kids’ academic progress. Her daughters’ college field hockey opportunities are in jeopardy because of the coronavirus pandemic. She’s sad about the milestones they’re missing. And Jenn says she has been criticized by others who think her worries are trivial.
“I was looking forward to my children experiencing the same things that I did when I was at the school and I just feel like people are looking at one aspect. They’re looking at strictly the COVID aspect. They’re not looking at all the collateral damage that’s being done to the kids," she said.
The pandemic is a mental health crisis for parents, says Mark Sigmund with Retreat Behavioral Health.
“Parents homeschooling their kids, they’re trying to hold a job down. They’re worried about financial insecurity a lot of times. And there’s just so many different levels of stress," Sigmund said.
Tamar Silberberg Shiffman has four children between the ages of four and 10. She says she’s grateful her kids have returned to the classroom, but this has also raised her concerns about one of them getting the virus.
"There was a pit in my stomach the first two weeks, and until I comprehended that it was actual anxiety, it took me some time to process that I was nervous. It’s much harder acclimating and getting out there with so many unknowns than I had anticipated,” said Shiffman.
Seven months in, people are feeling some hopelessness, says Sigmund.
"There’s a lot of parents that are struggling with sometimes-severe depression. They’ve seen huge increases in terms of self reporting of struggling with depression and anxiety," Sigmund said.
Sigmund suggests taking 10 minutes a day for emotional support, exercise, meditation or relaxation techniques.