http://tinyurl.com/78jrm
"If you thought that the joys of watching your young ones grow up was
one of life's simple pleasures, think again. Parenthood is actually
bad for your mental health, according to the latest research.
George Clooney, the actor who famously vowed never to have children,
seems destined to live a happier life than many of his Hollywood
peers, according to a new report which found that parents suffer
greater depression than people without children.
The study, published in the Journal of Health and Social Behaviour,
surveyed 13,017 adults who were asked how many times in the past week
they had experienced symptoms of depression.
Questions included how often "you felt lonely", "you felt depressed",
"you felt fearful", and "you had trouble keeping your mind on what
you were doing".
The results, which found parents experience "significantly higher
levels of depression than non-parents", will please the likes of
Clooney, who once bet his friends £10,000 he would remain childless
because "it is such a great responsibility and there isn't anything
in me that wants to replicate".
The study also found that certain types of parenthood are associated
with more depression than others. Non-custodial parents - adults who
have a child under 18 with whom they are not living - were found to
suffer the highest levels of depression, closely followed by parents
with adult stepchildren living away from home.
Professor Robin Simon, an associate professor of sociology at Florida
State University and the author of the study, said that the results
disproved the notion that having children enhanced emotional wellbeing.
"What is most striking about these findings is that there is no type
of parent that reports less depression than a non-parent," she said.
"There is a strong cultural assumption that parenthood is the key to
lifelong personal development and happiness and that people without
children feel empty and depressed, but this study conclusively shows
that this is not the case.
"Parenthood brings rewards, but the worries associated with being
entirely responsible for another human being appear to outweigh the
benefits and do not seem to lessen as children grow older."
The study's findings will make happy reading for couples who have
decided to enjoy the freedom and lack of responsibility associated
with not having children."
--
William T Goodall
Mail : [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Web : http://www.wtgab.demon.co.uk
Blog : http://radio.weblogs.com/0111221/
"It is our belief, however, that serious professional users will run
out of things they can do with UNIX." - Ken Olsen, President of DEC,
1984.
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