Stress is now being labeled as the 'Black Death of the 21st century,' eclipsing stroke, heart attack, cancer and back problems as the most common reson for a worker taking long-term sick leave.

But, what happens when the stress is motherhood stress?

Motherhood, that precious, joyful, but very stressful job from which a woman rarely gets to take “sick leave.”

And what is currently being listed as one of life’s major stressors? A sense of heightened pressure as a result of the prolonged economic downturn. What an additional stress the current economy places on mothers, who are already stuggling with motherhood stress!

<em>Hidden Stressor: Financial Responsibility </em>

<em>Whether or not the husband is the primary breadwinner in the family, most mothers serve the role of chief purchasing agent. Even when a husband writes the monthly checks, it’s almost always the mother who’s in charge of buying food, clothes and medical services. So even if it’s Dad who balances the checkbook, it’s Mom who has to make sure it does balance. </em>

<em>A memorable example shared by a mother of two preschoolers and whose family strained from one paycheck to the next: “One day, a neighborhood kids came to the door to collect on a Jump-a-thon pledge. She said I owed her seven dollars. I thought I woed only half that, but I’d misread the pledge. She was right. And I didn’t have seven dollars to give her. I scrounged around the house and finally came up with it, but it took our milk money for the week. I gave her the money, closed the door and just bawled. I’d made a stupid little mistake and it cost us $3.50 we didn’t have.”  - From <span style="text-decoration: underline;">Motherhood Stress, Finding Encouragement in the Ultimate Helping Profession</span></em>