Mental health is an important part of the overall health well-being for children. Childhood mental health disorder can affect children and their families causing a long-term impact on the parents and other family members as well as the child themselves. Mental disorders are described as chronic health conditions. These are disorders that can go on for a long period of time, that may continue throughout the lifespan. Without early diagnosis and treatment, children with mental disorders can have problems at home and in school. These problems can continue into adulthood for the child and cause other healthy development and delays. When a child is diagnosed with a mental illness, parents and families have to adapt and adjust to a new lifestyle. …show more content…
A lot of the time parents and other family members center their attention on becoming knowledgeable about the the mental illness and look for resources to better help their loved one. Parents and family members may experiences others losses such as relationship or friendship loss or even financial loss as they learn how to help their child to deal with their mental disorder . A diagnosis of a mental disorder can impact the parents in several different ways. Particularly many parents who have a child diagnosed with a mental disorder, stress is a substantial impact for them. For instances, if a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the parents have to learn to to cope with the changes in moods and behaviors such as mood swings or tempers. The stress can put tension on a relationship with other family members like their spouse and their other children. It can also cause you to have problems at work because you are missing work on multiple occasions, as well as cause you to have less alone or self-care time. No matter what the mental disorder …show more content…
Even though it is normal for parents to center their attention and display immense amount of care and support for the child or teen who has been diagnosed with a mental disorder, parents should not allow the challenges to allow themselves to neglect other important parts of their lives including equally caring for the other children in the household. Parents should remember that if they have other children, they may feel bitter about being pushed to the side if all the attention is placed on their sibling’s mental health challenges. They may also become annoyed if they have to “walk on eggshells” around their sibling due to their mental disorder generally because they do not understand what is happening. So, it is essential to make sure that they understand what their sibling is going through, and that you love and care for them all the same. Significantly, keeping a happy balanced family can be very helpful in reducing stress levels for everyone. Parents may seek counseling and support groups to help siblings deal with and learn about the mental disorder. Getting the sibling involved and having a role in the treatment of the adolescents with a long-term psychiatric disorder, can include getting them to advocate for their brother or sister. If they are older allow them to take part in some of the
From reading and reflecting her personal experience and journey with her sister, Pamela, I acquired a personal outlook of the deteriorating effects of mental illness as a whole, discovering how one individual’s symptoms could significantly impact others such as family and friends. From this new perspective mental health counseling provides a dominate field within not only individuals who may suffer mental illness such as Pamela, but also serve as a breaking point for family and friends who also travel through the illness, such as Carolyn.
The main psychological impacts were self-stigma, increased stress, and depression. Self-stigma occurs when the family members except mental illness stereotypes to be true. When self-stigma occurs caregivers tend to feel embarrassed about the person’s mental illness, feel as though they are looked down on because a family member has a mental illness, and feel the need to be hide it in order to have people continue to treat the family the same (Girma,Dehning, Mueller, Tesfaye, Froeschl, Moller-Leimkuhler , 2014). In the movie the little sister Ellen and primary caregiver Gilbert are the most effected by the self-stigma. The most predominant ...
One study shows that if a caregiver is under a lot of stress, his or her loved one has more trouble following the treatment plan, which increases the chance of a major bipolar episode. If you are a caregiver for someone with bipolar disorder, it is important that you also make time to take care of yourself. When learning about the bipolar disorder, I have learned a lot about it. I have learned about all the causes and all the symptoms of this disorder. If you have bipolar, you have a lot of stress in your life and you can’t even get rid of it really, you can calm it down but you’ll never get rid of it.
Mental illness can have a tremendous effect on not only the individual suffering, but to their family. "Mental illness often has a ‘ripple effect’ on families, creating tension, uncertainty, troubled emotions and big changes in how people live their lives" ("Families and friends"). A family member who suffers from a mental illness can have a great impact on numerous physical, psychological and social aspects of the family. Creating nursing priorities can help to create developmental and behavioral functions of a family to help the family bond and cope with a mental illness. The film “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape” by Lasse Hallstrom, portrays a family who struggle to cope with the enormous impact that a mentally challenged child “Arnie” can have on a family. Although the whole family is involved in Arnie’s care, it is clear that Gilbert, Arnie’s older brother, takes on the primary giver role. Throughout the movie, many scenes tend to dramatically show the amount of stress, frustration, aggression, and separation on the family that is ultimately created from Arnies mental illness. In this paper we are going to discuss the impact of chronic illness on the grape family, two family centered priorities we have chosen using the Calgary Family Assessment Model and one nursing intervention for each priority using the Calgary Family Intervention Model.
I think we should really value the mental health of our children in the society if we want to develop this great Nation. The psychological well-being of our children affects us both directly and indirectly whether we accept this fact or not. It is very important that we ensure that our beloved children have the capabilities to adapt to the stresses, working productively both in school and also contribute to the developments in the community. Problems associated with mental illness or health are very common in this society especially in the institutions of learning be it high schools, colleges or even universities. Some health problems associated with mental health include depressions, bipolar disorders, anxiety disorders and at time schizophrenia. It is therefore of vital importance to encourage and promote the improvement of mental health among our children.
Uebelacker, L. A., Miller, I. W., Keitner, G. I., Ryan, C., & Solomon, D. A. (2006). The impact of family treatment on family functioning in Bipolar I disorder. Journal of Family Psychology. 20, 701-704.
In the book, “Rampage”, it is discussed, because many kids who go through the school system are not known well enough to see the warning signs. No one wants their child to have this negative stigma that goes along with mental illness, so they blind themselves to what is there. Most parents make excuses for why their child is exhibiting behaviors of mental illness, and hope that it goes away. However, for some children it does not. And these are the children who slip through the cracks in the school system and go unnoticed by others.
Mental health is being aware, accepting yourself, and striking a balance in all aspects of your life like social, spiritual, physical, economical, and mental (Association, 2001). Mental health can be described as our positive interactions with the context and events in our life, and having the ability to cope with life’s stressors. Mental health problems can begin at anytime during your life (CAMH, 2010). In fact anything can make it difficult for an individual’s ability to interact effectively, and may lead into a mental health problem (Association, 2001).
Bipolar disorder not only affects the person living with it but the the people closest to them. It can be stressful on the family. It may also be difficult being the parent of a child with bipolar. As a family member or close friend learning to cope with the mood and behavior can be very helpful. Make sure to not take care of the loved one but take care of self too is important to manage bipolar disorder.
Families with a member suffering from any illness may be stressful enough but families with members diagnosed with schizophrenia are often faced with additional challenges such as the “external stressors of social stigma, isolation, and emotional frustration”. Many times, family conflicts arise as members attempt to provide care on an everyday basis (Chien, 2010, pg. xi). “A Beautiful Mind” is a brilliant motion picture directed by Ron Howard that chronicles the life of one John Nash, a prominent mathematician and the challenges he endures throughout his adult life afflicted with a chronic mental illness. “A Beautiful Mind” allows us to gain insight into the stressors that many families undergo when faced with living with a person with schizophrenia. This paper will explore the impact of schizophrenia on the lives of the Nash family as depicted in the aforementioned movie. Exploring the impact of the disease on the Nash family’s life will be followed with a discussion regarding an assessment conducted of the family, through the use of the Calgary Family Assessment model. Conducting the assessment allowed us to determine two nursing priorities, and nursing interventions in relation to them through the use of the Calgary intervention model. Essentially it becomes evident that the challenges faced by the Nash family are in the functional domain. The families inability to effectively communicate and problem solve becomes evident, which is negatively impacting the families ability to function effectively. Our nursing interventions guided by the Calgary Nursing Intervention Model will focus on providing the Nash family with the support needed to bring about change in the affective domain in foster effective communication with the famil...
begun to question their parenting abilities, and this allowed them to shift the blame from themselves. On the other hand, they had a very limited understanding of mental illness. In particular, the concept of mental illness itself was not something they were terribly familiar with. For my parents, problems of the mind were problems that existed within the scope of personal will power.
To begin with, a “Parent and Child Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: A Pilot Study.” is an article about a case study between parents and children who suffer from a mental illness. Each person interprets what a mental illness is in their own way. This article deals with how parents and children
Mental health is defined as "A state of complete physical, mental and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease" (World health organization [WHO], 2012, p.3). Mental illness refers to health conditions or disorders which are characterized by alterations in thinking, mood, and behaviors, and may affect a person’s ability to fully function on a daily basic (Healthy people 2020).
Children are a crucial part of society. They participate in almost all aspects of a society whether it is in schools, community activities, or in the workforce. However, not all children develop the same skills and are granted the same opportunities as others because of a mental illness. Mental illnesses are as serious as physical illnesses and they negatively affect a child’s life. There are a variety of mental illnesses children may have with different levels of severity; mental illnesses hinder childhood development, and they affect a child’s social and home life.
Encourage parents to be patient with their children throughout the healing process. Counseling of mental health disorders are normally not a “quick-fix”. These things take time and it is up to the child and family to demonstrate patience during the process.