'Supermom' attitude increases women's likelihood of depression
Today, many women balance motherhood with a career, and these individuals tend to have lower rates of depression compared to their stay-at-home counterparts.
Today, many women balance motherhood with a career, and these individuals tend to have lower rates of depression compared to their stay-at-home counterparts. However, ladies who try too hard to become "supermoms" may be more likely to develop the illness, for which millions of Americans buy Effexor.
Lead author Katrina Leupp and colleagues from the University of Washington conducted a survey among 1,600 women, all of whom were 40 years of age and married. The respondents were a mix of working and stay-at-home mothers.
Although ladies who remained at home to care for their children were more likely to have depressive symptoms, working moms who had the supermom attitude - meaning that they put pressure on themselves to be perfect in terms of both working and parenting - also had a high risk of developing the condition.
Leupp concluded that employment is ultimately beneficial for women's health, but that busy moms should admit to themselves that they can't be perfect.
"Supermoms have higher expectations for fairness, so it makes sense that they would be more frustrated with the division of household chores," Leupp said. "But for better mental health, working moms should accept that they can't do it all."
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