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parenting and mental illness

Turtle4New Contributor31 Aug 2020, 10:10 am AEST

parenting and mental illness

HI, i am new to this sort if thing and would love to hear how you support your kids in how they are affected by your mental illness. I have complex PTSD and 3 kids under 12. i have recently been in hospital for 2 months and they are struggling. I only have them 50% of time but even that seems like a lot at the moment. they have seen the school counsellor but said that they didn't want to talk about it. It would be great to hear how others support their kids whilst still looking after themselves.Thanks.

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In response to: parenting and mental illness

Unknown userMember31 Aug 2020, 10:59 am AEST

Re: parenting and mental illness

Hey @Turtle4 welcome to our forums. I am sorry to hear you're going through a heavy time at the moment. We're all sitting with you and are here to listen Sounds like you really care about your kids and ensuring they have supports. It's good you supported them in seeing the school counsellor. Do you have a pretty open dialogue with them about your mental health? There's also places they can chat anonymously such as ReachOut
or
eHeadspace

I am sure more of the community will pop in soon with some strategies as well. You're also most welcome to book a call with our help centre for a confidential chat here. They have a lot of experience in supporting families with complex mental health. Nice to e'meet you @Turtle4 look forward to seeing you around the forums 🙂

In response to: Re: parenting and mental illness

utopiaSenior Contributor05 Sept 2020, 8:05 pm AEST

Re: parenting and mental illness

@Turtle4 . My son was about 11 years old when i suffered a trauma at work and ended up with PTSD Anxiety and Depression. There were times i would be having a panic attack at 1am and i would wake him to help me through it (i was a single mum). There were times my anxiety was so high, i had to get my mum to pick up my son and take her to her house. Again he'd be woken up from sleep.

We can only do what we can. Some days are easy. Some days are impossible. Somedays we make mistakes. But we are trying our best.

Talk to your kids. Keep them informed. About the help you are getting, psychologist, medication, meditation, etc. Let them know that this won't last forever. One day you will be well again. And that you love them. Explain some days you will need their help. And that you are doing the best you can.

On days when you have a little more strength, sit down and have a good talk with each of them. Catch up on their news. Bake a cake with them. Take them to the movies or fishing. Enjoy these moments when they happen.

Don't be hard on yourself.

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