Like young people, the elderly are also battling life’s demons
The society has high expectation on how parents should conduct themselves and there is no room for failure.
What you need to know:
- Some parents have made a decision to stay strong for their children and pretend to be okay.
- Every day, they face numerous challenges as they struggle to meet the needs of their families.
Lately, a lot of focus has been on addressing mental health challenges among the youth.
The government, Church, media and other non-state actors have created a lot of awareness on stress and depression among young people.
This follows a rise in suicides among adolescents and young adults. I think that, as a society, we have forgotten about the elderly.
Some parents have made a decision to stay strong for their children and pretend to be okay.
Every day, they face numerous challenges as they struggle to meet the needs of their families.
From dealing with the burden of school fees to job losses occasioned by the Covid-19 pandemic and being good examples to their children, they are going through a lot. Some have sacrificed their own happiness for the sake of their families.
Troubled marriages
Many, especially mothers, have had to forget about themselves and focus on their troubled marriages and families.
Fathers, on the other hand, have been shouldering the burdens of the family because, as the heads, failure is not an option.
The society has high expectation on how parents should conduct themselves and there is no room for failure. It is ridiculous that parents are expected to be perfect in this imperfect world.
Failure to meet these standards make some men and women to be deemed as bad parents and bad examples in the society.
And instead of the ‘successful’ and ‘good’ parents checking up on the 'bad’ and ‘failed’ ones, the former shun the latter.
It is not uncommon to see heads of successful families warning their children against engaging and mingling with their counterparts with troubled parents. And, because of these silent and private struggles, parents who are poor wallow in self-pity.
It is such a pathetic sight to witness parents drowning in excessive abuse of alcohol just to forget the issues they face almost daily.
Pressures of life
The men you hear shouting in the village at night and sleeping in the trenches in city estates are fathers who are overwhelmed by the pressures of life.
And, as their children, we are not completely innocent. Some of us have put pressure on our fathers and mothers by choosing paths other than what they planned and wished for us.
Some of us have turned out to be big disappointments to our parents by not putting an effort in our studies and other talents.
We should self-evaluate to determine whether we are part of our parents’ problems.
If we are, we need to change our ways and make their burdens lighter. Youths should also check on their parents and try to help them overcome depression.
The government should create awareness about mental health issue among parents and the elderly. The society should also embrace faulty parents and try to help them be better versions of themselves.
Linda studies Communication and Journalism at Maasai Mara University.
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