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  1. Home
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  3. Parental Psychiatric Disorder
  • Cited by 42
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press
Online publication date:
August 2009
Print publication year:
2004
Online ISBN:
9780511543838
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511543838
Subjects:
Social Psychology, Psychiatry and Clinical Psychology, Medicine, Psychology, Psychiatry
Information

Book description

'A unique and innovative approach to family issues in psychiatric disorders. The authors tackle a broad range of complex issues that are rarely covered in the depth or with the expertise that this volume brings. This book is a major contribution to the field and provides the kind of international perspective that enhances our understanding of the complex dimensions of psychiatric disorders from a multigenerational and cross-cultural perspective.' From a review of the first edition by Carol Nadelson, Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School. It is indisputable that mental illness in a parent has serious and often adverse effects on the child, something which is surprisingly unreflected in clinical service provision. In this completely rewritten second edition, an international, multidisciplinary team of professionals review the most up-to-date treatment interventions from a practical, clinical point of view. It is essential reading for all professionals dealing with adult mental illness and child-care.

Reviews

‘A unique and innovative approach to family issues in psychiatric disorders. The authors tackle a broad range of complex issues that are rarely covered in the depth or with the expertise that this volume brings. This book is a major contribution to the field and provides the kind of international perspective that enhances our understanding of the complex dimensions of psychiatric disorders from a multigenerational and cross-cultural perspective.’

Carol Nadelson - Harvard Medical School

‘Over the past two decades, the needs of the informal carers of mentally ill people have been accorded increasing recognition. By contrast, the needs of children of the mentally ill have been sadly neglected. A personal account by such a child, now grown up, expresses this poignantly: ‘Being denied the necessary adult attention left me with the feeling that I did not deserve it, as if I had no right to ask to be cared for.’ This book is a timely and successful attempt to redress this neglect. It is an authoritative compilation which covers a wide range of adult disorders and their impact on children, and is both informative and practical.’

Julian Leff - Institute of Psychiatry, London

‘A welcome pioneer in the area of adult mental illness in the context of parenthood. It brings a wide range of scholarship and perspectives to bear on a hitherto much neglected subject … The scope of the work, covering as it does both general systemic and specific biological developmental and social issues, together with the careful referencing of corroborative studies should make it an important text for students of both child and adult psychiatry as well as community mental health.’

Freda Martin - the Hincks Centre for Children’s Mental Health, Toronto

‘The book is accessible. The chapters are short, and mostly include case studies … I highly recommend this book to CPNs and other professionals looking after the adult mentally ill and their children.’

Source: Mental Health Nursing

‘… it has a great deal to commend it.’

Source: Community Care

‘This book is an excellent example of international teamwork. It brings home the message about how our current approach towards mental illness needs to change … It is very empathetically written … It is a job well-done as it stimulates the reader to think developmentally. It will be the harbinger for future research in this field.’

Source: Doody’s Notes

‘This book is of vital importance to all psychiatrists at different subspecialties and general practitioners that deal with psychiatric patients who are members of a family, and it is of great interest to mental health services planners. I believe this book is a very good buy.’

Source: Saudi Medical Journal

‘This book presents a balanced, expert source of knowledge of prevention and treatment. The impressive list of contributors of different fields of mental health, as well asn the presence of the voice of the users is a powerful model of what could be achieved, without dismissing the work and effort needed to effect such changes. It is a very valuable tool for all those involved in the care of the psychiatric patients and their children.’

Source: Infant and Child Development

‘This is a thoroughly researched textbook but at the same time a carefully and passionately argued call for change.’

Source: Journal of Psychological Medicine

'This book is valuable for all professions that deal with parents who suffer from mental disorders. … this book covers a wide range of relevant topics compiled from a multidisciplinary team of 32 authors and publishers from various countries.'

Source: Journal of Psychosomatic Research

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Contents

Page 2 of 2

Contents
  • 21 - Talking with children and their understanding of mental illness
    pp 292-305
    • By Alan Cooklin, The Family Project, Camden & Islington Mental Health & Social Care Trust London, UK
  • View abstract

    Summary

    The title of this chapter highlights an important starting point for what follows. All children with mentally ill parents construct some form of understanding about changes they observe in their parents' behaviour. If professionals are to talk helpfully to a child about his parent's illness, the talk needs to be a dialogue or dialectic between the different knowledge and understanding of the child on one hand and the professional on the other. In other words, it is no use just 'telling' the child, the professional needs to try to find out how the child understands what has happened to his mother, father, brother or sister, to talk about how he has worked it out, and then to fit the professional's knowledge into the discussion. It is the mental health worker who should have the clearest understanding of the parent's illness. The chapter presents a case example.
  • 22 - Family therapy when a parent suffers from psychiatric disorder
    pp 306-322
  • View abstract

    Summary

    This chapter identifies the need to work with the family, the family to be worked with, the relevant approaches to treatment, and the goals of treatment. It has been shown that the ways in which a child construes the parent's illness can have a significant effect on the child's own psychological health. The chapter is concerned with the way to help the child and parents develop a more positive working understanding of the parent's illness. This includes helping the parents to re-establish some working authority, so that a more 'parental' voice of the parent can be heard, as illustrated in the examples of Irma and Chrysoulla. The chapter also includes reports of two initiatives which can very usefully and easily be implemented by any mental health service provider: The Mental Health Matters workshops, and the equivalent workshops for families with children.
  • 23 - Keeping the family in mind: setting a local agenda for change
    pp 325-332
    • By Clare Mahoney, National Institute for Mental Health (North-West Team) UK
  • View abstract

    Summary

    This chapter accounts on how organizations in Liverpool, UK, are working with children and families to implement the recommendations of a recent consultation with service users. A small development project called 'Keeping the family in mind' (KFIM) and run by Barnardos Action with Young Carers has been set up to facilitate and coordinate the change agenda. Adult and child services do not habitually connect and communicate. The chapter illustrates how this separateness can sometimes result in disservice to families. Learning from the KFIM consultation and its follow-up development project is used to illustrate how service users identify key problems in the existing service regime and point to those areas of work that would benefit from change. Increased participation of parents, carers and their children is required in planning and design of services in order to evaluate whether services help in the way they are supposed to.
  • 24 - Are services for families with a mentally ill parent adequate?
    pp 333-344
  • View abstract

    Summary

    People with mental illness have the same aspirations for parenthood and face the same challenges associated with this role as do other community members. This chapter provides a brief overview of the literature about the needs of parents with a psychotic disorder. A case example is used to illustrate some of the practical issues in delivering services to the families. Based on two recent surveys undertaken by the authors, the chapter summarizes the findings regarding the needs of parents with psychotic disorders, from the perspective of both the consumer and of the service provider. Finally, it addresses the challenge of closing the gap between optimal and current services. A recent national survey of psychosis in Australia interviewed a representative sample of individuals with psychotic disorders. Of the 980 interviewed, 33.1% were parents, and based on the total group, 8.1% had dependent children.
  • 25 - Models of service provision in three countries: Marlboro, New Haven, Sydney, Melbourne and Lewisham
    pp 345-360
  • View abstract

    Summary

    There is much diversity in the models of services for parents who have a mental illness, but a visit to programmes in several countries shows that all service models share a unity of purpose. This chapter describes five such programmes in three countries. The Family Legal Support Project in Marlboro, Massachusetts addresses the need that parents with a mental illness have in negotiating a complex legal system. In New Haven, Connecticut, a fruitful partnership has developed between two organizations who had previously served their own specific community groups for many years. The Children in Families Affected by Mental Illness Project in Sydney, Australia, overcame initial barriers existing between adult mental health and child mental health services. The Parents in Partnership Project in Melbourne illustrates the process of building step by step. The Building Bridges Project in Lewisham, UK illustrates how serendipity works.
  • 26 - Overcoming obstacles to interagency support: learning from Europe
    pp 361-374
  • View abstract

    Summary

    This chapter examines some of the factors affecting interagency support for families with a mentally ill parent across Europe. One of the most important factors is the key part played by resources in the provision of early, expert interventions. Recent research from Sweden reinforces the notion that proper resourcing has the potential to make a significant difference to the lives of the children concerned. In spite of the difficulties that children with a mentally ill parent face, this research suggests that extensive supportive services in health, welfare and education can help them to overcome their disadvantages. It is learned from the comparative research that there is an interaction of factors to facilitate or hinder interagency cooperation. From European practitioners working under different conditions and systems, from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean, it is found out that a shared sense of responsibility enables professionals to work flexibly to circumvent potential obstacles.
  • 27 - Training and practice protocols
    pp 375-392
  • View abstract

    Summary

    This chapter describes the development of a training programme commissioned by the Department of Health (UK) in 1998. It provides examples of its use and ongoing challenges to implementation and evaluation. Risks for staff and costs to families are presented to highlight the need for improving practice through the use of service protocols. The chapter emphasizes the need to integrate training and protocols in order to achieve better outcomes for children and their mentally ill parents. A programme of training and a clear, fully supported protocol must be the minimum necessary requirements to ensure implementation of best practice. The opportunities for prevention and early intervention would be well supported by adherence to a protocol which promoted timely referrals and an appropriate network of relevant professionals to assess, support, treat and review needs. Early intervention is good risk management, which requires early intervention.

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