Stress Reducing Tips for Moms Struggling with Mental Illness

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If you’re a mom struggling with mental illness, these stress reducing tips for moms should help you learn how to lower your stress levels!

looking up into the trees on a sunny day during a hike

Parenting with Mental Illness

Parenting with a mental illness is not a good time by any means but it can be made a bit easier with some adjustments. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when my twins were 1.5 and the journey both before and after that as a mom was/has been quite the challenge. Over the three years since being diagnosed, I have learned many tips that have helped me manage to be a parent with a mental illness, and with that wanted to share my many stress reducing tips for moms.

Mental Illness and Stress for Moms

It’s no surprise that mental illness contributes to high stress levels for parents.

I don’t know about you, but parenting with a mental illness makes life so much more stressful than it should be. My anxiety is always at max capacity which doesn’t help the stress levels. I am always worrying about something and that makes parenting really difficult some days.

Thankfully, I have learned many stress reducing tips through therapy that have helped me parent better and I wanted to share them with you today!

Let’s dive into my best stress reducing tips for moms.

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Stress Reducing Tips for Moms

Before we dive into the stress reducing tips for moms, we need to figure out why you are stressed in the first place.

Step One: Why Are You Stressed?

Take a step back from your situation and ask yourself why this is bothering you. Why is THIS your limit? Have you not been taking care of yourself? Taking on too much? Let’s chat.

Tips to Reduce Stress for Moms

There are so many ways to tackle the core of what is driving you nuts, but my best stress reducing tips for moms start with:

Understanding your “stressed” signs.
& Creating solutions for those signs.

Understanding your stress, like mentioned above, is key to being able to move forward and NOT cause yourself that kind of stress again. Some of the signs of stress overload include:

irritability
upset stomach
aches/muscle pains
insomnia
& low energy

After evaluating where you’re at, which is clearly STRESSED TF OUT, some solutions for dealing with where you’re at include:

getting proper rest
taking a break (aka, time for YOU)
write it out
get outside
& d o something just for you

Those are just some simple stress reducing tips for moms. Here is a big list of some awesome self care ideas that should definitely help you when you are feeling stressed to the MAX!

Clean-up one room in your house while blasting your favorite music
Try to do your hair and makeup. I know it is so hard, but try this one thing
Give yourself a mental health day and head to the beach (or another fave spot out of your city)
Change up your routine! I usually take myself to my fave coffee shop to work on bad mental health days
Click here for a hug of a reminder
Create or add to your happy wall! (click here to learn more)
Practice GRACE and give yourself a damn break. You deserve to slow down. Slow down with a book or your fave show under your fave cozy blanket
Do your usual morning routine no matter how long it takes
Practice positive self-talk. Look yourself in the mirror and say out loud a handful of positive affirmations and good things about yourself. If you need help with what to say, click here or ask a friend for your best qualities to repeat back to yourself
Make a watch-list on your streaming platform of choice & start a NEW show/movie that will get you out of your head
Sit on your patio and breathe
Meditate. I love the insight timer
Scroll through Pinterest quotes and save them to a special board. Scroll long enough until you find one that you want to take with you for the day
Drink a LARGE glass of water before anything else
Tuck your phone away
Indulge in the sad, but set a timer. Once time is up turn on your fave upbeat music and start with the smallest/quickest thing on your todo list
Order your fave take-out as many times as you need. We’re going off track today and that is okay. Mozzarella sticks for lunch? Sounds good to me
Go for a walk. Even if it’s to the end of your street and back. You DID it!
Turn on your fave kid’s movie. Mine go to’s are Up and Inside Out
Take out your fave guided journal and run through a few pages. Check out my favorite one from No Filter Co. here!
Give yourself a FULL self-care shower during your next bad mental health day. I’m talking body scrub, hair mask, body soak, everything
Make yourself a priorities list (three MUST do’s and three WANT to do’s) and alternate between the must’s and want’s
Reach out to a few friends and see who can meet up for lunch/dinner/coffee/drinks
Cook your GO TO favorite meal. Instacart what you need
Color a page or two in an adult (or kids) coloring book
DRIVE! Drive drive drive. You don’t need a set destination, just a kickass playlist and maybe your go-to drink
Buy yourself some flowers (or plants)
Snag a cute art kit from your local craft store and try it out
Facetime a friend and vent on the bathroom floor until you feel like you can stand up and keep the convo going in another direction
BRAIN DUMP! This is my go-to for when my mind is spinning or blank

For more on how to REDUCE motherhood stress, check out this post.

I hope this list of stress reducing tips for moms has given you a handful of ideas for managing your own motherhood stress! For more like this post, check these ones out:

List of 60+ Self-Love Affirmations to Boost Self-Esteem and Confidence

Positive and Supportive Quotes About Mental Health

Podcasts About Mental Health: Mental Health Support Podcasts