Routledge Building Children’s Resilience in the Face of Parental Mental Illness: Conversations with Children, Parents and Professionals

Mental illness in a parent presents children with multiple challenges, including stigma, self-doubt and self-blame, ongoing anxiety and depression, that are rarely discussed in the public domain. This important new book, written by young people who have lived through these experiences, as well as professionals working alongside their families, highlights the relationships between children, parents and professionals, and the emotional issues they all face. A key focus of the book is the relationships in all combinations between the children, parents and professionals, as well as the responses to each other illustrated throughout. It will be ideal for all those working in the health, social and educational professions, as well as parents and children themselves. Review "Describing how children and young people can do more than survive this adverse childhood experience but go on to thrive and flourish whilst supporting parents and family, written by its authors with emotional intelligence and intelligent kindness, this book is a must read for all practitioners working across the field of mental health, all health, social care, education and justice, and indeed all parents. The impact of parental mental illness on children and young people has been a both much neglected area and where written about has had a focus on blame rather than understanding, finding solutions and building resilience in children young people and families. Now for the first time we have a book that listens to and learns from children and young people themselves. True Co-production of the lived experience of Children and Young is People is 'yes hard Hitting’ whilst at the same time tender." Dame Sue Bailey, Chair, Centre for Mental Health, previously Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, University of Manchester, President of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, Chair of the Academy of Royal Medical Colleges and Chair of the Children and Young People’s Mental Health Coalition "It’s hard to draw positives from the past decade of austerity, but one has been the dawning recognition of issues, previously neglected, that underlie many of our social ills. Domestic abuse is one such issue, loneliness another. And growing up with a parent with mental illness is at last starting to win the attention it deserves. This fine collection of accounts of childhoods overshadowed – but also, startlingly, sometimes enriched – by parental mental illness could not be more timely for policy-makers beginning to appreciate the importance of supporting children and young people living with the daily reality. It’s also a welcome prompt for journalists like me to ensure the topic is firmly on the public agenda. At a mental health and addictions charity I am involved with, people we support are encouraged to give testimonies of their challenges and recovery journeys. Recently a worker with the charity felt confident enough to give her own, extraordinarily moving, account of growing up with a mother with bipolar disorder and of how it had helped shape her career choice. ‘I am no longer an insecure kid,’ she said. ‘I am hopeful.’" David Brindle, Public Services Editor, The Guardian "As someone who experienced parental mental ill health as a child and received no input from services, I believe it is essential that those people who come into contact with children on a daily basis are equipped to open up much needed lines of communication for them. Now in my role as a teacher I am an advocate for increasing awareness amongst staff about the challenges that these children may face every day. This book achieves both of these goals and is an essential read for anyone working with children." Alex Hatt, Secondary Science and Special Educational Needs Teacher and child who experienced mental illness in a parent "Books like this can support professionals to feel confident to look beyond the basic treatment ‘task’ they’ve been allocated. A greater appreci