I've Been Diagnosed

I don’t think there has ever been a diagnosis for stay-at-home mom syndrome invented yet. So I am here to do that today.

Stay-At-Home Mom Syndrome

Each woman is an individual and her symptoms might vary slightly from those listed below. Some woman have all the symptoms and some only display a few early on and have the rest show up later. It is important to remember that although stay-at-home mom syndrome is incurable, that proper care of the mom will help the symptoms to lessen.

Symptoms:

•  Communicates more clearly with emoticons than with words.

Example: When trying to have a conversation with the mother she seems to have difficulty completing sentences or following a linear thought. But she can text, in detail, about her latest trip to Disney, using only pictures.

•   Assumes cleanliness is a second rate way of living.

Example: When a guest enters her home and comments about the state of disorder present, she responds with, “Creative minds are rarely tidy!” Or when a friend comments about the array of her daughters hair, she replies, “At least she’s happy!”

•  Inability to commit to any program to help her physical state of being.

Example: When a friend asks her to join a class at her local gym, she can usually come up with an excuse to avoid any type of exercise.

•  Constant need for change.

Example: Her husband often comes home to new kitchen paint colors, rearranged furniture, or his wife’s new hair color.

•   Unable to keep track of keys or cellular phone.

Example: Her first comment to her husband when he walks in from work is always, “Can you call my phone?” and then, “Can I please have the key to my car from your key chain?”

• Wears the same clothes nearly every day; usually sweatpants, a sweatshirt, and slippers.
•     Finds inappropriate language extremely funny.

Example: When her 3 year old uses “bathroom only” language out in public, she dissolves in fits of laughter and quickly shares it with her friends, using emoticons.

•  Unable to show up to appointments on time.

Example: The mother displays confusion when the doctor is unable to see her children because of the amount of time elapsed from the appointed time. She seems to feel that 20-30 minutes from the time allotted is an acceptable time frame to show up in.

Causes:

Stay-at-home mom syndrome is believed to be caused by the psychological shift that happens when the mother decides to find a large part of her identity in staying home with her children. However, there are some indications the change is also physiologically connected to the birth or adoption of her child.

•   Symptoms usually begin to show up right after the first child is born and the mother decides to stay home with the child.
•   Some mothers begin with mild symptoms shortly after finding out they are pregnant or approved for adoption.
• Occasionally, a postpartum or adoptive mother who decides to go back to work will display similar symptoms.

Treatment:

There is no known treatment at this time, research shows that mothers that decided to go back to work after several years of staying home still display the symptoms. However, the severity seems to lesson proportionally to the amount of time from when the mother was a stay-at-home mom. Several studies have indicated that improvement is also shown in the following instances.

•   A date night out with her husband every week to two weeks show significant improvement in several of the symptoms.
•   A girl’s night out with some of her best friends usually cures all symptoms for up to a week.
• Gifts of chocolate seem to help the severity of the symptoms.
•   Occasional evenings on Pinterest seem to alleviate the need for change.

As we are still in the research phase of this new diagnosis, we would appreciate any and all insight into symptoms and/or treatments that you or a loved one might have.  All suggestions will be carefully considered. Thank-you for your feedback!

The stay-at-home mom typically wears sweatpants and slippers.