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Growing up with a parent who has a chronic mental illness: one child’s perspective
Author(s) -
Hindle
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
child and family social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.912
H-Index - 57
eISSN - 1365-2206
pISSN - 1356-7500
DOI - 10.1046/j.1365-2206.1998.00082.x
Subject(s) - perspective (graphical) , mental illness , psychology , psychiatry , developmental psychology , medicine , mental health , artificial intelligence , computer science
This paper describes a growing understanding of one adolescent boy’s experience of living with a parent with a chronic mental illness. The way in which services were organized and delivered to address the needs of either adults or children made it difficult to comprehend the impact of parental psychiatric disorder on the family as a whole. The case study illustrates the problems for the ‘not‐noticed child’, the process of internalization and enmeshment that affected his internal world, his relationships with others, and his development in adolescence. The need for all professionals to focus on interactive processes both within the family and in the professional network is emphasized, as is the importance of collaborative work.