Stay-At-Home-Mums More Angry, Depressed And Laugh Less Than Working Mothers

Stay-At-Home-Mums More Angry, Depressed And Laugh Less Than Working Mothers

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Mums who stay at home to bring up their families suffer more worry, sadness, stress and anger than mums who work.

Researchers studied more than 60,000 randomly-chosen 18-64 year-old women and found that stay-at-home-mums were more depressed than their go-to-work counterparts.

The study was carried out by respected polling company Gallup in the US and revealed that 41 of employed mothers experience the same feeling.

It also found that 28 of employed mothers experience the same feeling.

Perhaps most heart-rending is the fact that home mums were "less likely to say they smiled or laughed a lot, learned something interesting and experienced enjoyment and happiness".

Dr Robi Ludwig, a New York psychotherapist, told the Today show: "Isolation is a killer. We as human beings are not meant to be alone. The more we're alone, the more we look at all the things we feel are not right with our lives.

"It contributes to people getting into a negative, self-attacking mentality."

She said that stay-at-home mothers can struggle to feel as though they are accomplishing things for themselves.

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It's hard to define themselves because they're overloaded with the have-to-dos of the home.

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"It's a job that's never complete. There's always something that needs to be done. They can feel like an indentured servant."

As a stay-at-home-dad who became the primary child carer to my three kids after being made redundant, I suggest this also applies to reluctant house dads, too.

Here a stay-at-home mum laughs out loud at the idea she's depressed.

From your own experience, does this ring true for you?

Shouldn't we just, as mums - working full-time, part-time, stay-at-home - simply support each other in the decisions we make for our families and ourselves?

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