Rethink Mental Illness and Mind offer help, advice and support for parents and carers who suffer from mental illness.
When a parent becomes mentally unwell, it can be difficult for them to explain to their child what is happening and for the child to make sense of their parent’s behaviour. Parents and children or young people often feel isolated and unsupported when the parent is unwell, which can increase distress and anxiety across the family.
Research has shown that some children of parents with a severe mental illness experience greater levels of emotional, psychological and behavioural problems than children and young people in the rest of the population. This may be because the genes that some of them inherit make them more vulnerable to mental ill health, but it could also be because of their situation and the environment in which they are growing up.
