Topic Tuesday // Parenting with mental health challenges // Tues 15th Jan, 7pm AEDT

🙂 @CheerBear @BelleParentline The day to day routines for sure can be jarring, it's most easy to become really hard on ourselves to throughout the process of recovery.

It is not uncommon amidst the presentation of our own mental health symptoms to feel overwhelmed by a sense of shame and guilt. Which is a good segway into question 2 😄

What are some other emotions that can be the most confronting whilst balancing parenting and recovery?

Hello @BelleParentline, @Former-Member

Hello @Determined, @CheerBear

@Former-MemberConflicting and powerful emotions can certainly come up for us all. When they do, we can feel pretty destabilised. Once we can identify what we are feeling and why, we can process and move through them. Shame and guilt are significant emotions for so many parents, which can also tap into fear of judgement or stigma. Other significant emotions parents often describe is frustration or anger towards themselves, their situation, or for not ‘being better’. Some parents can feel they are the only ones struggling. While confronting and can take time to work through, these emotions are natural and you’re not alone in them.

@Shaz51 welcome 🙂 glad you could join

Hello @BelleParentline, @Former-Member, @CheerBear

even though my 4 step children are all adults now , and they are all different in their own way xx

@CheerBear@Former-Membersuch a good point about the different developmental stages. They can bring with them whole new challenges emotionally!

Thanks for sharing about that fear of judgement too. That is a big one for lots of parents. I can be hard (but so important) to remember the strength it takes to manage being a parent in addition to managing your own mental health. It takes strength, not weakness 🙂

Thanks for sharing 🙂 @Shaz51

Loving the insight 🙂 @BelleParentline

Expanding on the last question…

How can we exercise compassion towards ourselves throughout the process of parenting and mental health recovery?

Thanks @Former-MemberCompassion is often something we are able to give easily to others, but not so much to ourselves. Imagine a friend in your position. What wisdom or kind words would you give them? Self-compassion is like any other skill, it can take time and practice to strengthen. Not only can complex emotions like guilt and shame make self-compassion a challenge, so can our expectations of ourselves. In times like these, it can be helpful to ask ourselves, am I expecting too much from myself right now? It is equally important to remind ourselves that we are human. It is okay to make mistakes, to not get it right all the time. Remind yourself of the roles you are juggling. While this isn’t always easy, you are trying to work your way through. You’re doing it right now by connecting to get support. Remind yourself that you are deserving of self-compassion, and that it’s ok to take things at our own pace on challenging days.