📋 Show Notes:

🎙️ Episode 7: Why Am I Having a Mental Breakdown?
Subtitle: Parenting: A Public Health Crisis

Cristina, Tiffany, Jess, and Jamie come together to talk about the mental, emotional, and social weight of parenting in 2025. What begins with Cristina’s story of reflecting upon a breakdown, induced by holiday-prep-burnout, quickly becomes a deeply resonant exploration of why so many moms are feeling on the verge of a mental health breakdown — and what we can do to create more support, equity, and care for each other.

🗣️ What We Talk About:

The stress of manufacturing ‘holiday magic’ — and who that burden usually falls on

Why mothers carry the mental load (and what it’s doing to our health)

The impossible pressures of “intensive parenting”

How family dynamics have shifted away from community and toward isolation

Communication breakdowns in relationships — and how to get on the same page

Why breakdowns can actually be breakthrough moments

The importance of naming abuse, stress, and inequality in parenting

Creating space for women’s health, mental well-being, and self-care

Real talk on what support systems should actually look like

📚 Recommended Reading & Resources:

Parents Under Pressure The U.S. Surgeon General's Advisory on the Mental Health & Well-Being of Parents, 2024.

The Parents Aren’t Alright. Barbaro, Michael, host, and Claire Cain Miller, guest. "The Parents Aren't All Right." The Daily, The New York Times, 9 Oct. 2024, www.nytimes.com/thedaily.

Fair Play Rodsky, Eve. Fair Play: A Game-Changing Solution for When You Have Too Much to Do (and More Life to Live). G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2019.

The Second Shift Hocheschild, Arlie. The Second Shift: Working Families and the Revolution at Home. Penguin Books, 2012.

❤️ You Are Not Alone: Help for Abusive Relationships

If you or someone you love is experiencing abuse—emotional, physical, sexual, or psychological—please know support is available. These trusted resources can offer immediate, confidential help:

National Domestic Violence Hotline

📞 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)

💬 Text: START to 88788

🌐 thehotline.org

Available 24/7 with trained advocates offering free, confidential help in over 200 languages.

Women’s Law (from NNEDV)

🌐 womenslaw.org

Find clear legal info by state on protection orders, custody, and divorce. You can also email an advocate anonymously for guidance.

👯‍♀️ Meet Your Hosts:

Cristina Sansone – Public health pro turned full-time stay-at-home mom of three

Jamie Dennison – Corporate exec and mom of two

Jess Kahn Marks – Former engineer and mom of two

Tiffany Hodges – Writer, actor, filmmaker, and mom of one

🔗 Follow Along:

📱 IG: @momsamongotherthings

🌐 Website: mommyhasquestions.com

🎧 Presented by: momsamongotherthings.com

🔑 Keywords:

parenting, mental health, burnout, societal expectations, intensive parenting, motherhood, family dynamics, communication, mental load, public health, social media, community support, women’s health, self-care, empowerment, abuse