Stress is a part of everyday life, but being a parent comes with its own unique challenges and stressors. When parents are constantly in a stressful environment, it can be difficult to manage emotions, especially negative ones like anger and frustration. As previously discussed in an article on ‘Controlling Your Anger as a Parent’, the lack of emotional regulation due to stress can spill over into our quality of parenting and our overall connection with our children.
Therefore, parental stress does not only impact parents but can also affect the relationships within the family. There needs to be more care and attention put into reducing parental stress and improving our health and wellness — and here are four apps that can help with that.
Headspace
The chaos of parenting often leaves us with no time and space for ourselves. Headspace is a mindfulness-based app that helps you take a break and let go of stress so that you can return to the present moment with more clarity and purpose. A research study on parents’ use of Headspace suggests that the real-time mindfulness prompts from the app are a feasible tool for stress management and preventive mental health care. Among the wide range of courses and sessions on meditation, parents may particularly benefit from the ones that tackle patience, compassion, temper management, and listening. This enables you to focus less on self-criticism and failure, and instead focus more on your intimate connection with yourself and your family members.
WeightWatchers
Parental stress can have an adverse effect on your diet and nutrition, too. Whether it manifests itself in stress eating or unhealthy choices, it can lead to the deterioration of your physical health and a heightened risk for chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity. Fortunately, the app from WeightWatchers has personalized weight loss programs that can help you meet your fitness goals without having to sacrifice your overall relationship with food. With the help of diet and nutrition experts, you can access a science-backed meal plan that helps you achieve a healthy weight and, at the same time, meet your nutritional needs. Since meal prep can be time-consuming on top of other parenting responsibilities, the app also guides you toward the right portion sizes with healthy, easy-to-follow recipes.
Habit — Daily Tracker
Organization can go a long way in reducing stress and preventing burnout. As you juggle your family’s needs with your own, Habit can help you take back control of your life through tracking your daily tasks and maintaining good habits. Its customizable features allow you to input everything ranging from water intake to household chores. You can set real-time notifications to remind you of the task you need to complete, as well as add a widget on your home/lock screen to give you a quick view of your progress and improvement. You can also add motivational quotes so you can better stick to your healthy and productive habits.
BetterHelp
The best way to manage family-related issues and stressors is to seek professional help from a mental health counselor. BetterHelp is an online counseling platform that connects you to accredited and experienced family therapists, social workers, and counselors via text messaging, live chat, phone calls, or video sessions. After signing up and stating your reasons for seeking counseling, the app simply finds the right match for you—saving you the time and effort it takes to avail of the right services, especially if it’s your first time. Depending on your specific needs, your BetterHelp counselor can provide you with tools for effective communication, stress management, and healthy coping mechanisms.
For more advice and resources on parenting, you can check out the rest of the Twenty Tiny Toes website.
