Episode 75 - What is Parent Burnout?

Parental burnout is described as an exhaustion syndrome, both physical and emotional. This overwhelming exhaustion leads to emotional distancing from our children and increases our feelings of inadequacy and ineffective parenting. The tricky thing about parent burnout is that was are not supposed to be able to burnout. Parenting is "wonderful" and "fulfilling" and the "greatest joy" we can ever hope for. With those expectations, how do we deal with the reality of parent burnout? How do we undo the damage of COVID lockdowns, no school, home school, working from home, fear and frustrations. Even as we move into an endemic stage and can feel "normal" we might still feel burned out and we might be getting burned out.  Online Assessments and Inventories Burnout Parental Assessment Parental Stress Scale Stress and Burnout Questionnaire Burnout Self-Test Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) Articles The impact of parental burnout: What psychological research suggests about how to recognize and overcome it Parental Burnout: What Makes It Different