Greetings to all of you this fall!
Many of us look forward to this time of year for cooler days, beautiful leaves, pleasant walks, and the upcoming holidays.
The fall season also means the return to school and its related activities, which typically means stress for children and their caregivers. A recent advisory from the Surgeon General highlighted this tremendous stress, with 48% of parents reporting that most days their stress is completely overwhelming compared to only 26% of other adults. Dr. Katherine Rosenblum, a close MC3 collaborator and Co-Director of Zero to Thrive, completed an interview in response to this report — I highly recommend you check out her discussion here!
The noted increase in stress has been declared a public health crisis, placing parents and caregivers at higher risk for depression and anxiety. This heightened stress could be attributed to many factors, from the upcoming election to climate change to youth mental health. This also is compounded by social media, which leaves many parents and caregivers feeling judged with “parent shaming” and confused with conflicting information on how to be the best parent possible.
For all providers caring for children, one of the most important lessons to learn is that in order to "help the child" you must "hold the parent." Primary care clinicians are an integral part of the “community of caring” to support parents. One way to initiate this support is to share MC3’s Parent Toolkit with parents and caregivers, as it provides practical, evidence-based tools to help parents manage stress and ultimately strengthen their families.
MC3 is always standing by to help you navigate the most challenging of children and most stressed of parents. For further insight on how to best support families through times of stress, request a 1:1 psychiatric consult with MC3.
May this fall bring you all moments of relaxation and wonderful family memories.
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