The Single Dad’s Survival Kit

Juggling both career and the family can be very stressful for single parents. It leads to feeling of exhaustion and insecurity. Usually, a single mom can call up her friends and family for support when it’s too much for her to handle.

Single dads, on the other hand, handle things differently.

For most single dads, seeking support is a symptom of the typical male inadequacy in parenting. This feeling triggers deep-seated fear that their children will be taken away from them or that their lives will be intruded upon. This usually happens when relatives – no matter how well-meaning – insist on helping in raising the children on the impression that the single dad can not raise the children alone. Single dads also tend to isolate themselves and “tough it out”. They neglect socializing with other parents. This takes its toll on parenting.

In a research called the Edinburgh Lone Fathers Project in 2003, some of the key health issues affecting single dads include:

• Poor socialization skills leading to stress and isolation;
• Abuse of alcohol, tobacco, and recreational drugs;
• Unhealthy diet and lack of exercise;
• Stress as manifested by insomnia, anxiety, hypertension, depression, and headaches; and
• Lack of confidence and self-esteem. This sometimes lead to single dads losing their jobs or underperforming.

These show that single dads, being subjected and prone to tons of stress, need time to relax and de-stress. They ought to eat a healthy diet, engage in relaxing activities, and foster social relationships with peers and other parents. Unfortunately, the macho culture prevents single dads from accepting the fact that they do need psychological and medical help because well, they are so-called “men”. And in order to encourage single dads to better take care of themselves, physicians believe in appealing to a man’s sense of responsibility. They advise single dads to take care of themselves in order to ensure the health and well-being of their children.

So it doesn’t matter if you’re a single mom or dad. For both need all the help and support they can get, not only for themselves, but for the healthy development of their children, as well.