超級媽媽更容易得抑鬱症

Trying to be a supermum can be a recipe for depression, scientists said.

Working mothers who try to do everything by themselves are more likely to become depressed than those who accept that they aren’t superhuman, a study of hundreds of women found.

‘Women are sold a story that they can do it all, but most workplaces are still designed for employees without child-care responsibilities,’ said researcher Katrina Leupp.

‘You can happily combine child rearing and a career, if you are willing to let some things slide.’

She suggests that rather than trying to do everything themselves, working women should get family members to help with the housework – and not feel guilty about leaving work early when family duty calls.

High earners can take their cue from actress Anna Friel, who revealed her secret to juggling work and being a mother – employing two nannies.

The University of Washington researcher said: ‘Employment is ultimately beneficial for women’s health, even when differences in marital satisfaction and working full- or part-time are ruled out.’

But the analysis found that not all working mothers are equally happy.

The women with ‘supermum’ attitudes as young adults showed more signs of depression, the American Sociological Society’s annual conference stated.

Women who try to do it all without any help are more likely to feel they are failures when things do not go to plan, with guilt and frustration triggering a spiral towards depression. Tiredness and lack of any ‘me time’ could also be an issue.

However, she stressed that working women – including supermums – generally still a lower risk of depression than stay-at-home mothers, adding: ‘But for better mental health, working mums should accept that they can’t do it all.’

Pam Spurr, a life coach and mother-of-two, said women need to realise there is no shame in taking a career break when children are young or cutting back on time in the office.

She said: ‘We need to accept that we are only human and can’t do it all.’科學家稱，做一個超級媽媽是讓你患上抑鬱症的途徑之一。

一項涵蓋了幾百位女性的研究發現，那些事事親力親爲的上班族媽媽相比其他不勉強自己做超人的媽媽，更容易得抑鬱症。

研究員卡特里娜•路易普說：“社會向女性灌輸了她們可以多面兼顧的觀念，然而很多工作崗位都是爲那些沒有撫育子女責任的員工設置的。”

“如果你不求事事完美，那麼你還可以開開心心地一邊養孩子一邊幹事業。”

她建議職業女性應該讓其他家庭成員也幫助分擔家務，別什麼事都自己來。如果家裏有事需要提前下班，也不要覺得有負罪感。

高薪女性可以學學女演員安娜•弗瑞爾，她透露自己工作孩子兩不誤的祕訣就是——僱兩個保姆。

華盛頓大學的研究人員說：“從根本上來說，就業還是有利於女性健康的，即使不考慮婚姻幸福度以及工作性質是全職還是兼職。”

不過分析發現，並不是所有的職業母親都一樣快樂。

美國社會學會年會上的報告顯示，那些年輕時就抱有當超級媽媽想法的女性表現出更多憂鬱症的徵兆。

凡事親力親爲，不靠任何幫助，這樣的女人在事情不按計劃發展的時候更容易有挫敗感，負罪、沮喪的心理後來就逐漸演變爲抑鬱症。勞累還有缺乏獨處的時間也是可能導致抑鬱症的問題。

不過，她強調說，總體而言，職業女性（包括超級媽媽在內）相比那些待在家中的全職媽媽來說，得抑鬱症的風險還是要低一些。她補充道：“爲了更好的心理健康，職業母親應該接受這一事實，就是她們不能什麼都自己幹。”

帕姆•斯普爾是一名生活教練，也是兩個孩子的母親。她說女性需要意識到，孩子還小的時候暫時離開職場，或減少一點工作時間，這都沒什麼好羞愧的。

她說：“我們需要接受的是，我們只是凡人，不可能什麼都做。”