Parental burnoutWhen parents crack

Parental burnout is still little understood and poorly diagnosed, in large part because sufferers often hide their feelings out of shame and guilt. Symptoms are similar to depression and commonly present as irritability with the children. Stress and fatigue are part of being a parent, but become pathological in around 5% of parents, most commonly mothers. Social media, with its images of apparently perfect families, has a part to play too.

This programme by Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR is part of the European Collection, a joint initiative from European public service media (ARD, ARTE, France Télévisions, SRG SSR, RTBF and ZDF), coordinated by ARTE.