Eggshell Parenting: What is it? Its Impacts on Children

Parenting is a feast but not a simple one. From talking with your partner to talking with your children, everything affects your children. Some parenting styles can negatively impact children’s mental health. One such parenting is “Eggshell Parenting”.

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What is Eggshell Parenting?

In simple terms, eggshell parents result in “children walking on eggshells”. This response is generated due to parents’ unpredictable behavior and outbursts.

In eggshell parenting, children feel they must walk on eggshells to maintain safety and avoid their parents’ emotional reactions. Therefore, this eventually creates an unhealthy parent-child relationship dynamic, impacting the child’s health.

What Does it Mean to Be an Eggshell Parent?

Eggshell parents have unpredictable moods. They can have outbursts at any time, along with inconsistent behaviors.

The most extreme cases involve severe psychological abuse and physical abuse. All this can trigger a role reversal between parent and child.

Examples of EggShell Parents

When a child comes with good marks, the parents first congratulate them. The next moment, they start beating them for showing no improvement.
Beat their children for styling themselves according to their needs.

Eggshell Parenting Impacts on Children

Children who grow up with eggshell parents live in a state of chronic unpredictability from their primary caregivers. Some severe impacts observed by such children are as follows:

Anxiety is common among such children. Due to high unpredictability, they often don’t know how would their parents react to them and at what moment they will start beating them.
Children can’t self-regulate and express themselves authentically.
Constant unpredictability may lead to constant hypervigilance, which leads to both – physical and emotional traumas.
Children suffer the emotional burden.
Unstable moods become common for children too, as what they see, they perceive.
Children hardly get any mental support from their parents. Hence, early signs of depression become common.
Children can’t frame healthy relationships with others too.
These children always feel a lack of love and care. Therefore, they also have huge trust issues.

Which Parents Are More Towards Becoming Eggshell Parents?

Many people tend to become eggshell parents. Typically, parents struggling with mental health issues are more prone to it. Some of these mental health conditions include:

Anxiety Disorders
Depression
Bipolar Disorder
Active Substance Use Disorder
Narcissistic Personality Disorder
Borderline Personality Disorder

Also, eggshell parenting traits can be passed from parents to their children.

How to break the chain of negative parenting?

1) Reflection

Reflecting on your parenting traits and their potential impacts on your children’s health is the first step towards a positive change.

2) Being Honest

The next, step involves being honest with yourself. You can’t be honest with others if you are not honest with yourself. You can’t deny that you are being too harsh on your children. Therefore, acknowledge your actions and take action. This won’t be easy but you can do it.

3) Self-Awareness

Is it just with your children or with others too? Are you self-aware? Do people find it challenging to interact with you because of your mood swings? Do you overreact to minor things?

Ask yourself such questions and find solutions. Have determination within yourself to solve your issues.

4) Resolve Lingering Conflicts

Be vulnerable and understanding towards your children. You still have a chance to make a good bond with your children.

Never hesitate to say sorry and accept your mistakes.

5) Seek Professional Help

It’s okay you might get help from a professional. We can’t solve everything on our own and our mental health matters too. The main focus should be a pure bond with your children. Therefore, you should seek professional help if things are going too far. You can opt for various therapies such as:

CBT ( Cognitive Behavioral Therapy)

CBT helps people reframe thoughts and experiences

Psychodynamic Psychotherapy

This therapy is opted for by people who have concerns about emotional triggers and instability.

Interpersonal Therapy

It focuses on improving interaction with others.

Conclusion

Being too harsh and rude to children is a strict crime. They should not be punished unnecessarily. They deserve to be loved and cared. Hence, it would help if you avoided eggshell parenting.

Also, if you are feeling mentally ill, you can easily recover from it with a little willpower and determination.

To understand more, you can watch https://youtu.be/csFrEZ-633g?si=EIHE2_kpjg5BfCc3

To read more about parenting visit https://theknowledgetips.com/category/parental/