It's official: parents are more depressed than non-parents
Categories: Media
Good
news for those who've decided not to have kids: The Washington Post is
reporting the results of a study indicating that parents are more miserable than non-parents. The findings,
published in last month's Journal of Health and Social Behavior, show that upon surveying 13,000 adults, parents are
more likely to be depressed than those who don't have children.In the article, Michael Lewis, professor of pediatrics and psychiatry and director of the Institute for the Study of Child Development at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick, New Jersey, gives some advice: If life as a parent leaves you gloomy, realize that it's not you. It's your . . . situation. "Don't think you are crazy" for feeling low, he said. This study shows that "lots of people are feeling the same way."
I don't know about you, but personally?
I find the results of this study depressing.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
kate 1-07-2006 @ 1:58PM
Let's reframe this: it's not the kids themselves that are the cause. It's the lack of value society seems to place on parenting (truly) and the subsequent lack of support parents feel from said society. Especially working parents (which, in my book, includes all parents).
Reply
Terri Mauro 1-07-2006 @ 3:26PM
Hmmm. I was way more depressed when I was single than since I've been married, and way more depressed when we were childless and trying to have kids or adopt than I am now as a parent. I'm stressed, but depressed? Miserable? Nah.
Reply
Cool J 1-07-2006 @ 9:54PM
Kate,I don't speak for all of society,but as a non-parent I do value parenting,and I do support it---especially in my position as a supervisor.I have personally baby sat in my office because the mother had sitter problems.I have chosen not to have children and am quite happy because of it.But I do get a little tired sometimes about parents complaining about a situation that they chose to create;parenthood.I think that if you get yourself in to a situation,make the best of it and live with your decisions.
Reply
Rhys 1-08-2006 @ 1:16AM
Interesting article. Perhaps it's the exhaustion factor that contributes to the depression?
Reply