Murthy issued a public health advisory emphasizing the urgent need to address the mental health and well-being of American parents. In a statement, he discussed how parents face high stress levels compared to other adults, which could also affect their children.

The surgeon general called for a “fundamental shift in how we value and prioritize the mental health and well-being of parents,” and advocated for policy changes, community programs, and societal support to deal with this problem.

Murthy pointed out that 33 percent of parents reported high levels of stress in the past month, compared to 20 percent for other adults. He noted how severe or prolonged stress can lead to mental health problems that could cause children to experience symptoms of depression and anxiety at earlier ages.

He said in the advisory:

Parents have a profound impact on the health of our children and the health of society. Yet parents and caregivers today face tremendous pressures, from familiar stressors such as worrying about their kids’ health and safety and financial concerns, to new challenges like navigating technology and social media, a youth mental health crisis, an epidemic of loneliness that has hit young people the hardest. As a father of two kids, I feel these pressures too. With this Advisory, I am calling for a fundamental shift in how we value and prioritize the mental health and well-being of parents. I am also outlining policies, programs, and individual actions we can all take to support parents and caregivers.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, Murthy argued that these challenges represent a serious public health concern demanding urgent attention and action. He cited financial insecurity, sleep deprivation, and the growing popularity of social media as common stressors for parents.

His solution? More government, of course. What else did you expect, dear reader?

He proposed several government initiatives to combat the problem, emphasizing the need to expand financial support for families, such as enhanced child tax credits, paid family leave, and affordable child care. He suggested improved access to mental health care for both parents and children, as well as measures to address the negative impacts of social media and, of course, gun violence.

What folks like Murthy like to leave out is the fact that government is often the cause of the problems stressing us out. Let’s take the economy, for example. People are currently struggling to afford groceries, gas, and other necessities. Much of this is due to rampant inflation.

Yet, the Biden administration has made this problem worse by meddling with the economy, as RedState’s Christopher Arps pointed out:

One of the most pressing issues plaguing Bidenomics is the alarming rise in inflation. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, inflation has surged by 16.6% since President Biden took office. This has significantly eroded the purchasing power of American households. Grocery prices have skyrocketed by 20%, while food away from home prices and gasoline prices have increased by 18% and 52%, respectively. Rental prices for primary residences have also surged by 15.6%, further burdening families.

Economists have pointed to President Biden’s massive $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, passed just months after he took office, as a pivotal contributor to the inflation surge. This stimulus package extended generous unemployment benefits, provided stimulus checks, and expanded the Child Tax Credit. While these measures may have provided temporary relief, they also created a situation ripe for inflationary pressures.

Larry Summers, a former Treasury Secretary, explained that the stimulus measures “played a significant role in exacerbating inflation,” according to Arps.

The policy may have seemed like a good idea to those who don’t understand that the government ruins 90 percent of whatever it touches, but in the long run, it only caused more stress to parents and other adults.

Other issues, such as immigration, crime, healthcare, and plenty of others, are on Americans’ minds. The Biden administration, as well as previous administrations, have done little to address these problems in a meaningful way. In the end, it is not the government that can relieve stress because it typically causes more problems than it solves.

In fact, the only way the state can help alleviate people’s worries is to stop imposing policies that make things worse for everyday people. Over time, less government and bureaucracy will result in less stress caused by government meddling.