It’s Parent Mental Health Day

What is #PMHD?

stem4, a charity that supports young people to build positive mental health, is the UK founder of Parent Mental Health Day in 2022.

stem4’s Parent Mental Health Day encourages understanding and awareness of the importance of parents’ mental health and its impact on the whole family system. With this year’s theme being ‘balance’, the day aims to get parents and carers to take a moment to reflect on the balance they have in their lives and to take positive steps to make change.

The #PMHD story

The past two years have been like no other, with huge impact on young people’s mental health. With ever-changing restrictions, uncertainties, multiple roles, health, educational, economic and social impact, it is easy for parents and carers to overlook their own mental health as they juggle daily tasks.

Parent Mental Health Day is here to shine a light on the unsung heroes who have parented under changed circumstances throughout the pandemic, but now need some focus on themselves. By getting parents, carers and employers engaged in discussions, PMHD aims to challenge the stigmas surrounding parents’ mental health and start a discussion about how they are coping.

Being a parent is hard, parenting children with additional needs can be even harder. You have less time, you’re more isolated and you can feel stressed or under pressure more often.

We picked out these two articles both of which contain excellent advice for special needs parents.

Managing your stress when caring for your disabled child from Scope, the disability and equality charity for England and Wales.

The emotional impact of parenting a disabled child from Special Needs Jungle which provides amazing parent-led information and advice.

stem4 has also created a Parent Mental Health Day Balance Pack which you can download here. It is packed with useful hints and tips for all parents.