Parents With Mental Illness: A Qualitative Study of the Effects on Their Families

The aim of this study was to seek the views of consumers about the impact of their mental illness on their families, especially their children. This study is unique in that it was initiated by a group of mental health consumers. Parents with a long-term mental illness and an average of eight hospital admissions took part in this qualitative study. Semistructured interviews were taped and analysed. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that some parents had not previously considered how their mental illness affected their families, and that the impact was related to the amount of support they received from partners or other family members. Many parents expressed difficulty in resuming their role as parent and spouse following a hospital admission. Parents with mental illness and their children would benefit from hospital or community-based rehabilitation programs, or home-support, that assists them to organise and manage their family responsibilities and encourages them to interact with their children.