Helping children to survive sick parents

On the other hand, people who are or who will become parents may suffer from mental illness. The children of these parents may be affected through genetic inheritance, quality of parenting, family relationships, and psychosocial adversity. The editor, a social worker and psychologist, has estimated that, in 1995, 27 000 Australian children were affected by maternal psychosis alone. Many ill parents parent well, and not all children are affected, but up to two-thirds probably experience negative consequences. Amazingly, the needs of these children have been largely ignored.