Herding
A friend from Anchor Center recently sent me a link to this blog on the importance of special needs parents taking care of themselves (although I would argue this applies to all parents at some level). One of the most sombering parts of this blog is the statistic, "40 to 70 percent of family caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression with about a quarter to half of these caregivers meeting the diagnostic criteria for major depression – Family Caregiver Alliance, National Center on Caregiving." Looking around at my caregiver friends and the parents in the waiting rooms at Children's I can start to see that. Everyone displays this facade of strength and stability but when you look harder, you can see the cracks. You have to look strong and act strong to make it through each day. Being strong is a requirement for existing in this high stress environment but strength only goes so far. You start to see the cracks when a mom who seems like she has everythin...