How to Cope With Adult Children That Have Mental Issues

Coping with an adult child with mental health issues, particularly if the adult child is living at home, can be challenging for any parent. The National Institute of Mental Health and the National Alliance on Mental Illness advise parents to become well informed on the issues affecting their son or daughter as well as to preserve their own boundaries and to seek encouragement from mental health professionals and support groups.

Instructions

1. Discuss with mental health professionals your role as a parent. Your son or daughter will have to seek medical care on their own if they are able.

2. Draw clear boundaries between your adult child's needs and your own. The Society for Social Work and Research advocates that parents learn how to care for their adult child while preserving their own requirements for calm, safety and personal time.

3. Instruct your your son or daughter in their responsibility of remaining in a treatment program and staying on their prescribed medications. In cases of severe illness such as bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress, major depression or schizophrenia, your adult child may be too ill to live at home.

4. Join a local support group. A support group will give you a sense of community and encouragement.

Tips & Warnings

• Read books and articles on dealing with mental health issues. "The Burden of Sympathy: How Families Cope With Mental Illness" by David A. Karp will help dispel misunderstandings you may have about the issue and help you to feel more in control of your situation.

• You cannot take responsibility for your grown child's illness, or cure it with "common sense" talk or expectation.

• Take your time in finding the right therapist. Try several support groups. Some may emphasize your family's issues more than others.

• Get immediate professional help if you feel physically or mentally at risk from your child's behavior.

• Understand that you cannot be responsible for healing or treating your adult child.

• While you cannot force treatment on your child, you do have the right to refuse to constantly rescue

• your adult child if she leaves treatment or quits taking medication.

References

• National Institute of Mental Health: Helping The Depressed Person Get Treatment
• National Alliance on Mental Illness: Coping Tips for Siblings and Adult Children of Persons with Mental Illness
• American Psychiatric Association: Aging Parents as Caregivers of Mentally Ill Adult Children: An Emerging Social Problem
• Society for Social Work and Research: The Long Term Impact of Parenting an Adult Child with Bipolar Disorder

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish
• University of Illinois: Coping with Mental Illness in the Family
• University of Illinois: Understanding and Treating Depression
• National Institute of Mental Health: The Numbers Count: Mental Disorders in America