In a Ted Talk, Sheryl Ziegler, doctor of psychology specialising in children and families, talks about why most mothers feel lonely and exhausted.
Exhausted, overwhelmed and lonely — that’s how mothers commonly feel, suggests Sheryl Ziegler, doctor of psychology specialising in children and families. In a Ted Talk, she addresses why mothers feel so and what they need in their lives to cope with these feelings.
Ziegler begins her talk by sharing her own journey of acknowledging her feeling of loneliness as a mother. She recalls how she once enjoyed stay in a hospital despite being in pain because she could finally take a break from her responsibilities. “I had no kids to put to bed, no dishes to unload, no laundry to fold. It was just me alone in a room,” she says.
Ziegler was diagnosed with kidney stone and wanted to call someone besides her family. “I realised that I was just as disconnected from my community as the mothers I see in my practice,” she remarks.
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The feeling of loneliness among mothers persists and Ziegler goes on to explain why. “Social media shows what all the mommies are doing better than us.” Mothers tend to feel inadequate as parents more often than not. Working moms feel guilty while stay-at-home moms are judged.
So, how do mothers cope with the problem? “[Mothers] need to spend some of those hours that they are online with a female friend instead…and share our stories. I won’t let busy build walls and keep me apart from people,” she adds.
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