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5. Mental Health

Some parents of children who come into care have ongoing mental health problems which prevent them from understanding what their children need. They can be severely depressed or have severe conditions such as schizophrenia or bi-polar illness that can disturb a person’s thinking and feelings. Such conditions can have an impact of how parents look after their children. Some people with severe mental illnesses have recurrent breakdowns in their health and have periods in hospital as doctors try to stabilise their condition. If doctors and the court believe that a parent’s mental illness is going to prevent good enough care of a child and there are no other family members to help, it may be decided that a child should grow up in an adoptive family.

Peter's Story

Listen to adopter Fiona talk about the mental health issues she encountered with her son, Peter.

Download the transcript for this audio.

Case Study: Mary

Before Mary was born there were concerns about her mother Jill’s mental health. She had a history from her teenage years of bi-polar disorder and had never liked taking her medication because it left her feeling lethargic and out of touch with the vibrant creativity she sometimes experienced. At other times, she was very depressed and felt that her life was not worth living. When she was feeling either very high or deeply sad she was hospitalised to try and stabilise her behaviour.

Her family became concerned when she became pregnant while in hospital. Doctors did not feel that she had enough understanding about her illness to safely care for a child. Jill said that her child’s father was Ben who was in hospital because he had used a mixture of street drugs which had induced feelings of paranoia. He did not remain in hospital for long and agencies had lost contact with him when he was discharged.

Careful enquiries were made to try and find a family member in Jill and Ben’s families who could care for Mary. Although Jill had siblings, they were all older than her and had raised their children. They were however, keen to be in contact with Mary’s progress.

Jill was helped to care for Mary in hospital after she was born, but it quickly became clear that she had poor understanding of her little baby’s needs. She was disturbed by Mary’s crying and nurses had to support both Mary and Jill. Jill was relieved when Mary went to a foster home whilst the court decided how she could best be cared for in the future. Mary was 5 months old when the court decided that she should be placed with an adoptive family.

Consider the following questions relating to Mary’s situation and her long term care.

As an adoptive parent, how would you help Mary come to terms with her mother’s mental illness?

Answer 1

Avoid the subject if possible and tell them it’s best forgotten if they do bring it up.

Answer 2

Explain that her mother’s illness was not her fault and although it can be managed with medication, there can be lots of ups and downs that make it hard for her to look after a growing child.

What qualities will you need in order to become an effective adoptive parent for Mary?

There may be more than one right answer.

Answer 1

Have an understanding of mental illnesses and their causes.

Answer 2

Ability to leave the past behind.

Answer 3

Awareness of Mary’s genetic vulnerability to bi-polar disorder.

Answer 4

Willingness to some level of communication with the birth family.

Little information is known about Mary‘s birth father, how would you help her deal with this?

There may be more than one right answer.

Answer 1

Don’t focus on this negative point

Answer 2

Give her a secure, loving environment.

Answer 3

Be led by her on the subject

Who do you think it would be sensible to maintain letterbox contact with from Mary’s birth family in future?

There may be more than one right answer.

Answer 1

Her mother, Jill.

Answer 2

Her father, Ben.

Answer 3

Jill’s wider family.