Mental illness can cause mild to severe disturbances
in thought and behaviors and can result in an inability to cope with life's
ordinary demands and routines. Mothers and fathers with mental illness
experience all of the challenges of other adults attempting to balance their
roles as workers, spouses and parents. The symptoms of mental illness, however,
may inhibit these parents' ability to maintain a good balance at home and may
impair their parenting capacity. When parents are depressed, for example, they
may become less emotionally involved and invested in their children's daily
lives. The
wellbeing of children with parents who possess a server mental illness and the
resources not just for the parent, but the child or children affected. Children
require numerous amounts of needs from their caregivers and an issue with
parents who carry a severe mental health disorder is that the parents are
unable to provide necessary needs due to their disorder and symptoms
associated. Parents who possess a mental health disorder may unconsciously put
their child at risk if proper attention isn’t given to the child’s development.
Although these risks can be indirectly and unconsciously such as the social
stigma attached to mental health disorders, mental effects on the child,
genetic predisposition to mental illnesses themselves and the academic effects
on the child’s achievement later in life. All these factors affect the overall
family dynamics and functioning. For children to develop appropriately their
home environment needs to be nourished with comfort, understanding,
encouragement and curiosity and having a mental illness as a parent sometimes
prohibits them from being able to understand their child’s development or how
to challenge their child appropriately. P
Parenting is never an easy job and can
be even more difficult for parents with mental health disorders, which brings
about the importance of providing necessary programs for children affected.
Children who are brought up in a home with parents who possess mental health
disorders are automatically affected in a social aspect. This issue is
important to me because I see a lot of mental health issues in my community
that has been overlooked and has traumatic effects on children and their
learning in school. The impact of parental mental illness on
family life and children's well-being can be significant. Children whose
parents have a mental illness are at risk of developing social, emotional
and/or behavioral problems. The environment in which children grow affects
their development and emotional well-being as much as their genetic makeup doesAfrica is a large continent, prone to strife, especially
south of the Sahara. Most of its countries are characterized by low incomes,
high prevalence of communicable diseases and malnutrition, low life expectancy
and poorly staffed services. Mental health issues often come last on the list
of priorities for policy makers. Where mortality is still mostly the result of
infectious diseases and malnutrition, the morbidity and disablement due to
mental illness receive very little attention from the government. Health in
general is still a poorly funded area of social services in most African
countries and, compared to other areas
of health, mental health services are poorly developed. Indeed, most African
countries have no mental health policies, programs or action plans.
Reference:
Uznanski A. Roos
JL. The situation of mental health services of the World Health Organization,
African Region, in the early 1990s. South African Med
J. 1997;87:1743–1749.