When Someone in Your Family has a Mental Illness

This resource was developed to reassure children whose parents are recovering from mental illness. It answers common questions about what recovery looks like, treatments including therapy and medication, and how to stay connected to a parent if they need to spend time in hospital.

This resource explores depression and anxiety in new parents. It aims to help you understand that depression and anxiety are common around the time of your baby’s birth and during their first year of life. It also explores what to do if you or your partner is at risk or showing signs of mental health difficulties.

This resource was developed to help young people understand how to seek help for themselves when a parent has a mental illness. This includes talking to others, whether a family friend or counsellor; having questions answered; and what to do if they feel unsafe.

This resource was developed to prompt parents living with mental illness to think about their ‘village’ – the people around them who they can call on to provide support to themselves and their children when the parent is unwell. Parents without a strong support network are provided with suggestions on how to strengthen these.

This resource was developed to answer some of the questions young people may have when they learn their parent has been diagnosed with a mental illness.

This resource introduces parents living with mental illness to the importance of having support networks for their children and how to use My child’s support network guide. The guide, which was developed in partnership with parents who live with a mental illness, their children and supporters, is designed to help parents think about the relationships in their child's life and ways to strengthen these to support their child and the family too. 

This resource was developed as a guide for parents living with mental illness who have to spend some time away from their children (such as being in hospital) as part of their treatment and recovery. It outlines why remaining connected is important for children’s resilience and some of the simple ways parents can connect with their children while experiencing mental illness.

This resource has been developed to help young people who do a lot to help their parent experiencing mental illness (and by extension their family) recognise when it’s time to ask for help and what kinds of support may be available.

This resource has been developed to help children feel less alone by sharing the perspectives of people who have lived experience of living with a parent experiencing mental health difficulties. It includes a number of suggestions on who to contact for support when learning that a parent has a mental illness.

School is a big part of your life, and so it makes sense that when things are tricky at home, you might have some days where being at school is difficult. The good news is your school can actually be a great place to feel safe and find support – this fact sheet will help you find out how.