Raised by a Parent With Mental Illness
Healing as an adult from a childhood shaped by a parent's mental illness — while staying connected to them, if you choose to.
Understanding it
Growing up with a parent who had depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, PTSD, a personality disorder, psychosis or untreated addiction does something specific to a child: it makes the emotional weather of the house unpredictable. Children handle almost anything better than unpredictability. When you cannot tell which version of your parent is coming home, you learn to watch constantly, and that watching becomes personality long before it becomes a choice.
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When to reach for more support
If you are having flashbacks, panic that does not settle, dissociation, or thoughts of harming yourself, work with a trauma-informed therapist — this material can open a lot at once. Call or text 988 in the US in a crisis. If a parent is currently unsafe to be around, or is in crisis themselves, prioritize safety and emergency services over any conversation about the past.