Mum, is ‘Pinterest stress’ affecting you?
What exactly is ‘Pinterest stress’? It’s certainly something that is mummy-specific in this case. Those picture-perfect homes, crafts and baked goods on Pinterest making you feel inadequate? Let’s see if other mothers are affected by it too.
Mum, are you affected by Pinterest stress?
Picture-perfect expectations
Do you think you’re a good enough mum? How are you gauging that? By comparing yourself to other mothers? By looking at the gorgeous images on Pinterest?
In a survey conducted by Today of over 7,000 mothers, about 42% admitted that browsing through Pinterest actually caused them to feel depressed. But Pinterest is supposed to inspire and induce feel-good thoughts. No? These mothers felt depressed because their own lives did not depict the perfection reflected in the images.
To add salt to the wound, three out of four mothers expressed that the self-induced pressure from being immersed with Pinterest images was worse than being judged by other mothers.
Failed attempts at ‘domestic bliss’
To get an idea of how severe this Pinterest stress is, the average participant reported that the stress felt from scanning Pinterest was at 8.5 based on a 10-point scale.
A majority confessed that they search Pinterest until the early hours of the morning for inspiration and ideas, only to feel crushed later when they cannot recreate the ‘domestic bliss’ seen in the ideal photos.
PinterestFail.com
Pinterestfail.com
28-year-old mother of two, Jenna Anderson from California shared: “It’s largely a site of unrealized dreams . . . It tricks you into thinking that everyone is baking their own bread. It’s so easy to get depressed. You start to feel like your entire life has to be like a magazine all the time.”
She outdid herself by launching PintetestFail.com, a place where mothers can feel better and not inadequate when they see that not everyone can achieve picture-perfection. Check out all the baking and cooking attempts gone wrong on this site.
“Completely unattainable”
Though some may suffer from Pinterest Stress, still many others are inspired by it. A stay-at-home mother of two Kim Parcher shares: “It has allowed me to discover things I would have never thought of before on my own, and has allowed my creativity to soar to depths I never thought possible.” Her secret is to not to attempt things that are “completely unattainable”.
After all, think about it—many of the images have been doctored, styled and staged. Most images probably had food stylists working on it with applied fancy lighting techniques. How can mothers beat that?
Nobody expects perfection from you
Want a perfectly baked batch of decorative cupcakes? Buy them! We think your children need your love more than culinary accomplishments. Don’t be too affected by Pinterest stress if you can help it.
Watch this video on how to deal with Pinterest Stress from a stress management teacher
