Areas of Focus
1) Expanded Research and Professional Education: Traditional research, concerning Daughters and Sons, has focused on the statistical likelihood that the individual would acquire their own psychiatric diagnosis. But, there is little knowledge about the environment in which the child was raised. (e.g. a single-parent household vs. a two-parent household vs. an extended family member vs. a foster home). Additional issues would include: gender, race, economic status, obstacles to education, young carer and adult caregiver stress and developmental issues.
2) Young Children: Extended family, parents and professionals need to be trained and encouraged to talk to young Daughters and Sons about our parent's and our experiences, including our perception/identification with our parents. Children and young caregivers often attempt to suppress their needs because they are worried about the adults around them. They may appear “fine” but may actually be struggling with serious fears that need to be discussed. For children who have become little adults in the home, support must be provided so that children can “transition back” into childhood while also acknowledging the important role they have played in taking care of their family during an emergency. Tool kits and resources to help these children ask for assistance from adults are available in the UK and Australia and should be available in the United States.
3) Teens and Young Adults: Teens and young adult Daughters and Sons need special attention. As they transition into adulthood, Daughters and Sons may be at risk to abuse in relationships due to economic and social vulnerabilities, especially where prior resilience factors (social support, education, peer support, role modeling) have been weak or altogether absent. These individuals often need help to survive the high stress of attempting to build their own life and act "normal" or build friendships with peers without feeling fearful of stigma through disclosure.
4) Adults: We seek to support Daughters and Sons as caregivers, advocates, and co-survivors of mental illness in their relationships with parents and the “health care” system. As Daughters and Sons reach the point where they are able to view their parent from an adult perspective, they begin to seek out the types of support and education that NAMI has traditionally provided. Often seeking NAMI at a younger age, they reach NAMI with a lifetime of experiences, yet near burn out from repeated experiences of mental illness crises and advocacy with little support. Adult Daughters and Sons face stigma as a group, referred to as “damaged” or “hidden victims” and often seen through lenses of mental illness pathology, reinforcing the common fear of Daughters and Sons that mental illness is their destiny. Stigma often thwarts their advocacy efforts, including attempts for additional assistance in geriatric care for parents.
5) Advocacy for Parents with Psychiatric Disabilities: Parents with psychiatric disabilities should be intentionally supported in their parenting role as part of recovery planning and parenting should be recognized for its value in psychiatric rehabilitation. Stigma has unjustly and disproportionately prejudiced the "system" against parents with psychiatric disabilities. Parents with psychiatric disabilities can be and are good parents, but external supports are often needed (including advocacy and better parenting-ability assessment tools for social workers). Increasingly research also shows that parenting is an important factor in recovery for people with psychiatric disabilities.
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