Mental Health of Parents and Families

I chose this topic because I believe if we can find some way to help this illness, many children may not have the emotional detachments and emotional disturbances as they grow and develop. When a child is growing in an environment that is not positive, or have parents that are depressed, they too may become depressed, have social problems as well as behavior problems. 

I have seen the impact of children who have had parents with mental problems. They become emotionally detached from everyone. They have had excessive discipline problems as well as anger that can be very scary at times. While some kids are resilient, others may be unable to change, thus leading to even bigger problems like drug use, legal problems, or even thoughts of hurting self. 

I just feel a huge sadness for parents with these problems because they just do not realize how they are impacting a child's life and future growth. Ultimately, our children are our future, and we want them to have positive growth and development so they can be successful. We must break this vicious cycle so children can be wonderful parents when they grow up.

While I was searching for information from other countries, I came across a great article from the UK. Basically, it is the same as the United States as far as what it can do to a child if they have to care for a parent with a mental illness. Like the U.S., doctors and psychiatrists are there to help, as well as numerous amounts of resources. Below the video link, is another great link to a fabulous article. Beware, it is VERY long, but VERY informative! 

I also found another great site with a short video on a child who actually grew up with a mentally ill parent. I have it posted, but thought I would put the actual URL in case it didn't load.

http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall/youngpeople/caringforaparent.aspx

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:31V9IgABfSQJ:www.youngcarer.com/pdfs/Mental%2520Illness%2520Leaflet%25206th.pdf+&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgp7DUA4Va_Is4u0qJSTljeUP-qG-rRgEM7CxtzsqaojE9rmXUWL5FdtQu3nmkOSQ8vzd5uCCCQetoBZLizi4xadGNCeQuP3X0axiT2vdQroCGl4cUIHhc9EIjx2r5Z5QCx8FfE&sig=AHIEtbTsV6iTNY0yqYpp40hFaevE7tlhQw

If you are interested in mental health of parents and the impact on children, this is a great article!

I hope you found this information useful; I feel as if I am rambling, but this topic is so important because we must do what we can to reverse the negative effects of having a parent with a mental illness. 

Susan