Just for Parents and Kids (2024)

FAQs

What is parental anxiety disorder? ›

Parental anxiety refers to the excessive worry and stress about children's well-being that many parents experience. In fact, it's become so prevalent that it is officially considered a health concern, according to a recent advisory by U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murphy that calls for shifts in policy and cultural norms.

Is it okay not to want kids? There is nothing wrong or abnormal with not wanting to have kids.

The short-term answer is usually yes. Children thrive in predictable, secure families with two parents who love them and love each other. Separation is unsettling, stressful, and destabilizing unless there is parental abuse or conflict. In the long term, however, divorce can lead to happier outcomes for children.

Mom burnout sometimes called depleted mother syndrome, is the feeling of mental, emotional, and physical exhaustion, depersonalization, and lack of fulfillment caused by intense child care demands. Burnout is the result of too much stress and a lack of resources for coping with it.

Some parents develop what they might describe as “parenting OCD,” obsessing over their children's care and worrying all the time if something has happened to them. It's hard to describe if you don't have OCD, but you can think of it as taking your usual parental worry and turning the dial past High to Extreme.

Cold mother syndrome refers to a parenting style characterized by emotional distance, dismissiveness, and rejection. This type of mothering is often accompanied by a lack of emotional availability and neglect of a child's emotional needs.

No desire to have kids. This is the most common reason: people simply don't want raising children to be what they do with their lives for 20 years. Perhaps they don't like children all that much, or they don't feel a desire to be a parent.

Sheenie Ambardar, PhD. If your gut is telling you that you don't want children, there is probably a good reason. Lacking the urge to have children does not indicate a flaw. It's completely normal that some people, both men and women, won't desire children in their lifetime, Ambardar says.

A “silent divorce” or an “invisible divorce” generally refers to the same concept. Both phrases describe a situation where a married couple remains legally married but has effectively ended their emotional and often physical relationship.

What is stonewalling in relationships? ›

Stonewalling is a communication behavior characterized by shutting down, withdrawing, and emotionally disengaging from a conversation or interaction with a partner. It often involves one partner giving the silent treatment, avoiding eye contact, or displaying a lack of responsiveness.

Medically reviewed by Akilah Reynolds, PhD — Written by Adam Rowden on April 27, 2022. Parental anxiety is the worry, fear, and stress some people experience in relation to their role as a parent or caregiver. Taking care of a child or children is a big responsibility.

Research has shown that children who are raised in an authoritarian parenting style, where there is a lot of control and pressure to conform to strict rules and expectations, may be more likely to experience anxiety.

Kids between 8 months and 1 year old are growing into more independent toddlers, yet are even more uncertain about being separated from a parent. This is when separation anxiety develops, and children may become agitated and upset when a parent tries to leave.