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Latest Appeal: Supporting families living with serious mental illness

A woman with her 2 children

Imagine growing up in a family where your parent loves you but is often unwell - confused, frightened and seeing things that are not there.

 

Thousands of children in this country have this experience, because they have a parent with severe and lasting mental health problems.

 

The pressures and anxiety of living with mental illness can often result in children developing emotional problems themselves.

 

It’s time that children were given a better understanding of their parent’s mental illness and received the support they need. 

 

By making a donation online today you can help us support these vulnerable young people
How we are helping

 

Our Young Carers project is evaluating services that already support young carers, as well as talking to children to find out what additional support and understanding they need.

 

This will put the spotlight on their situation, raise awareness of their plight, and make sure that they themselves are properly cared for.

 

Another project, Family Matters, will investigate what happens to families when a mentally ill parent is admitted compulsorily to hospital. This is a traumatic time. Families need the right support to get through it, and to adjust when the parent recovers so that they can take up their loving and caring role once again.

 

More information about parents with mental health problems

 

Upset Girl
Melanie's story:

 

Melanie – now aged 26 – remembers growing up knowing her family was ‘different’.

 

As a child she dreaded getting up in the morning, not knowing whether her mum would be calm and rational or angry and confused.

 

She also remembers the terrible feeling that her mum’s illness must be her fault.


Melanie loved both her parents but that meant she ended up carrying family responsibilities far beyond her years. She says:

 

‘While other children were playing and seeing friends, I was at home worrying about my mum. Sometimes I even had to miss school to make sure mum kept her hospital appointments.’  

 

No child should have to live hiding the burden that Melanie carried all those years 

 

To enjoy good mental health, there are certain things children need: 

 

  • Someone they can depend on to help, guide and protect them

  • Stability, certainty and consistency in their lives

  • Acceptance and encouragement

Thousands of children and young people in the UK do not have these building blocks of a healthy life, because their parent has a serious mental illness.

 

Often with no-one to turn to for support and guidance they are faced with a situation they can’t possibly know how to cope with
 
Please show your support for the vital work we are doing to support these children by making an online donation now
Smiling girl hugging her mother
You can help to give thousands of children a more carefree life

 

  • £25 can help us talk to a child to identify what support they and their family need

  • £50 can help us develop practical ways for young people to understand their parent’s mental illness, to cope with it better, and to safeguard their own mental health

  • £100 can help us deliver training for workers in healthcare, education and social services to help them support young people who are living with a parent who has a serious mental illness

  • £500 can help fund further research into ways of preventing children developing mental health problems through looking after a mentally ill parent

Donate Now

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Some names, details and photographs have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.