Parenting Stress Is a Public Health Problem, Surgeon General Warns

The U.S. Surgeon General issued a public health advisory Wednesday on parents’ mental health, calling for urgent action to help the nation’s burned out moms, dads, and carers.

Dr. Vivek Murthy has previously used such advisories—which are intended to call attention to critical public health issues—to address gun violence and the risks social media poses to young people. Murthy is now demanding new political and social support for parents who, he argues, face an unprecedented array of challenges.

“In addition to the traditional challenges of parenting—protecting children from harm, worrying about finances, managing teenagers who are searching for independence—there are new stressors that previous generations didn’t have to consider,” Murthy writes in the foreword to his advisory.

Read more at The Daily Beast.