If you're a parent or just became a parent this story should pique your interest. According to the Surgeon General, parenting is bad for your overall health if you have children under 18 years old and is creating an increased amount of stress and your health may be declining.
"I think it's just a general concern nowadays, you see so much stuff in the news, bad things happening to kids and stuff," said Mother Kelly Rainford.
There are certain things that can increase stress and anxiety as a parent like social media.
"Lately as my children get older it's more challenging because they are inundated on a daily basis by all kinds of possible issues that don't work like social media," said Candace Schecter, who has two teenage children.
The Surgeon General warns modern-day parenting --- has much different challenges than in years or decades past.
"The social media trend is very high and it's not only affecting teenagers which we see across the board but parents as well. They are doing a lot of comparing and there's also an element of embarrassment if a child is acting a certain way," said Leslie Danner, Director of Psychological Services, at Gulf Shore Behavioral Health.
The Surgeon General warns these stressors day after day can take a toll on parent's mental health and well-being.
"If we try to control everything stress levels are going to skyrocket and you're really not going to be successful because you can only control what's in your bubble," said Danner.
"I think part of it is knowing how bright your child is because people misunderstand how easy it is to get their children to understand what is right and wrong and what to say when things don't work for them," said Schecter.
Parents say they don't disagree with the Surgeon General but say parenting is what you make of it.
You want to be able to limit who they're interacting with, but I think there's probably tools and stuff to help manage it but at the same time as a parent it's something you always have to keep an eye on," said Rainford.
48 percent of parents say most days their stress is overwhelming, compared to 26 percent of other adults. Even more astonishing 62 percent of parents say no one understands how stressed they are compared to 42 percent of other adults. For parents who their children interact with online is near or at the top of the list when it comes to concerns.
"My daughters on it, my Son not so much, and I think it's important for them to interact with the rest of the world but also to have parameters to keep that filter on," said Schecter.
Intensive parenting was initially thought to be a good approach to parenting to ensure children succeed in a super competitive world, but this approach can also be harmful.
"When children are young providing something that we call forced choices, so you're still giving an opportunity for children to have input but would you like this or this as opposed to the open-ended, "what would you like."
There's also a lot of things I think parents are scared about so they are more on top of their children, you can't just say oh go play, which can increase stress levels as well," said Danner.
In the end, parenting is different for everyone, but knowing you need to take care of your own personal self and health should be a priority.
"Right now there's just so many new things he's learning every day, we're just adapting to," said Rainford.
To get a head start, some things you can do when it comes to taking care of yourself is setting more time aside for any extracurricular activity and something you can really look forward to.
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