Undoubtedly, many stay-at-home moms feel lonely. From my perspective, here are my simple reasons why stay-at-home moms feel lonely:
- Lack of adult interaction
- My identity as an individual feels lost
- Days can feel repetitive
- Societal views of stay-at-home moms
Below, are the raw and honest responses from other moms about why being a stay-at-home mom feels lonely.
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Why Do Stay-at-Home Moms Feel Lonely?
It is not an uncommon question, “Why do stay-at-home-moms feel lonely but they are never alone?”
However, the real question should be, “How do you reduce feeling lonely as a stay-at-home-mom?”
Understandably, saying that stay-at-home moms feel lonely seems confusing but it is very real.
It is hard to identify those feelings of loneliness, anxiety, depression, and overall unhappiness. Unfairly, our culture creates guilt and judgment if you state you are not living in full bliss every day.
For me, I have found that honestly identifying my feelings through journaling and creating an action plan to show myself love has been helpful.
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Oddly, as stay-at-home moms, we are never alone yet, it can feel like the most lonely feeling in the world.
Really, Stay-at-Home Moms Feel Lonely
Before becoming a stay-at-home mom, I never would have thought of stay-at-home moms feeling lonely. Yet, those are feelings I have felt and many other stay-at-home moms feel the same loneliness.
Add in a pandemic and the stay-at-home mom’s loneliness continually multiplies.
Making great stay-at-home mom friends lessens the loneliness. Check out 9 Simple Ways to Find Your SAHM Friendship Group.
A Gallup poll showed that stay-at-home moms were more depressed than moms who work out of the home. Stay-at-home moms showed depression at 28% vs moms who work out of the home showed depression at 17%.
With that said, moms who work out of the home have their own set of stress and pressures. To minimize that would be unfair. But today, we are talking about stay-at-home moms feeling lonely.
Check out podcast episode, My Life as a SAHM: What Am I Going To Do?
Available on all podcast apps or right here.
Stop Complaining, It Was Your Choice to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom
No argument about it. It was my choice to become a SAHM and I have no regrets. For our family, it was exactly what worked.
Even with an extremely supportive husband, the unexpected feelings of loneliness consumed me with guilt.
I felt I had no right to be tired, frustrated, depressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. I chose to be a stay-at-home mom so was I just being selfish?
In addition, I’m an adoption mom so I truly felt like I was completely being selfish.
It wasn’t until I was years into being a SAHM that I realized my feelings were valid.
If you haven’t already, be sure to check out 7 Reasons Why Mom Self-Care Is Important.
What Is the Hardest Part of Being a Stay-at-Home Mom?
In search of my answers, I reached out to a group of stay-at-home moms and asked, “What is the hardest part of being a stay-at-home mom? ”
This is a consolidated list but the majority of the sentiments were the same. The majority of stay-at-homes feel lonely.
- Seclusion/Isolation
- Lonely
- No breaks/no days off
- No adult interaction
- Constant cleaning
- No alone time
- Not feeling fulfilled
- Never being done
- No separation of work and home
- Not being able to leave the house
- Lack of energy
- No motivation
- Feeling depressed
- Lack of value because you don’t provide an income
- Mom guilt
- Repetitive life /always the same thing
- Society’s negative view of stay-at-home moms
- Lack of partner support
What do think is the hardest part of being a stay-at-home mom? Comment below.
Stay-at-Home Mom Depression Is Real
After getting professional help and discovering I needed to place a priority on my care, I started to feel better. I still have moments but it is a journey.
One of the biggest discoveries in improving my stay-at-home mom feeling lonely challenge was finding my voice.
Mom Treading Water has made me a stronger person and my hopes will bring something to all of you. Any support is greatly appreciated.
Let’s work together to normalize imperfections and remove the stigmas for all moms and stay-at-home moms feeling lonely.
