Mothers and fathers experiencing burnout syndrome is a widespread issue throughout Europe but in Turkish parents, it is almost nonexistent, according to a new study conducted in Belgium.
The research was carried out by Universite Catholique de Louvain (Catholic University of Louvain) in 42 different countries. Turkey – alongside Cuba, Peru and Thailand – ranked at the top, as they scored the lowest on the spectrum of parental burnout.
Parental burnout is a condition that results in parents constantly feeling tired and stressed, and not being able to complete daily tasks with their usual efficacy.
"Parenting has long been shown to be both a complex and stressful activity and important sociological changes in recent decades have further increased the pressure on parents," stated the university on its website.
Researchers employed various methods to investigate parental burnout which they likened to job burnout, which occurs when a person endures excessive job stress. The same could be applied, as was confirmed recently by several studies, to parents as "enduring exposure to overwhelming parenting stress can lead to parental burnout."
Canan Tanıdır, associate professor at the Psychology Department of Istanbul Gelişim University, explained the reason why parental burnout was less prevalent in Turkey, saying that many cultural factors were at play.
"It's because in our country people live in large families where you have grandmothers, grandfathers, uncles and aunts. Also in our country, apartment 'culture' is quite widespread. Relatives live close to each other and this provides a social support system for the mother and father," said Tanıdır.
"We are a country that imports great importance on human relations. We like lives to be infused with neighbor relations and friendships. When someone has an issue they go to their neighbor or friend to share it over a cup of coffee," Tanıdır told Demirören News Agency (DHA) and said that this in large proportion prevented depression.
Tanıdır, who is an expert in child and adolescent psychiatry, noted that western societies put more emphasis on individuality. "Europeans experience more depression because their social support system and their close family relations are decreased," she said.
"In European countries having close connections between people and spending time with them is almost nonexistent. Today, Western parents take their children to daycares and courses in order to be the 'perfect' parent, which exhausts the family both financially and in terms of time."
"If a mother and father look tired, it is probable that hopelessness will soon accompany this condition. They won't be able to play with their kids as they used to and there won't be a sense of communion at home," she said.
"The mother will only fulfill basic tasks like cooking and cleaning the house. If the parents are unhappy, the children will be unhappy as well," Tanıdır added.
Tanıdır emphasized that the rise of modern family concepts put strains on the parents and the children rather than alleviate them. Parents today try to execute motherhood and fatherhood taken straight from books, she said.
"This situation is also present in our country although it is primarily observed in Western nations. This style of parenting results in the loss of natural behavior or what we call, spontaneity. Families act more mechanically. They try to parent with books and rules and by researching online," she said.
Tanıdır pointed out that this parenting style of being stuck on virtual information and ignoring natural methods and children's needs have lead to a rise in artificial parenting.