The Happiness Planner

Today is Father’s Day. I’d like to take this opportunity to talk about an issue that doesn’t get talked about as often as it should which is how father’s mental health also affects family tremendously.

Energies are contagious. When one family member suffers from depression, burnout, sadness, and stress, everyone else in the family feels it too. Being a father is not an easy job and fathers deserve to be praised more often.

Even though women and men are becoming more equal, men still feel that as a husband or a dad, they are to be the provider of the family. It might feel like an easier job than being a mother to many people, but as I’ve observed many men in my life, I can honestly say that men bear a lot of stress on their shoulder. Most of the time they don’t even express it because they feel that it is their duty, their role, their responsibility as a man. Their ability to provide affects their identity. It defines their self-worth. It is what they see as the meaning of their life.

Stress is contagious. If one person in the family is stressed, everyone else feels the effects too. I’d like to take this opportunity to help us learn to become better partners, better friends, and better daughters to the men in our lives by learning to recognize their stress and know how to deal with it without making the situation worse.