Focus on Women: Mothers With Mental Illness: I. The Competing Demands of Parenting and Living With Mental Illness

Abstract

Many of the issues of mothers with mental illness are generic to all parents; others are specific to the situation of living with mental illness. Mothers with mental illness must play a role in developing standards for clinical care and the research agenda in this area.

Critical Issues for Parents with Mental Illness and their Families

“…The majority of women, in the vast majority of these studies have diagnoses of psychosis, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or are described as having chronic or severe mental illness. Women with affective disorders outnumbered those labeled with psychotic disorders in only two samples (Nicholson et al, 1998a(Nicholson et al, , 1998bWhite et al, 1995), even though, judging from the NCS prevalence data previously cited, mothers with affective disorders far outnumber those diagnosed with psychotic disorders.…”

“…However, findings are limited in generalizability, given the characteristics of studies and study participants. Studies in the U.S. over the past 10 years have, for the most part, involved small samples of women recruited in hospital, clinic, or other treatment settings (Joseph, Joshi, Lewin & Abrams, 1999;Miller, 1990;Miller & Finnerty, 1996;Mowbray et al, 1995b;Nicholson, Sweeney & Geller, 1998a, 1998bRogosch, Mowbray & Bogat, 1992;Rudolph et al, 1990;Sands, 1995;Zemencuk, Rogosch & Mowbray, 1995). A smaller number of studies have drawn larger samples from pools of existing data (Gamache, Tessler & Nicholson, 1995;Kelly et al, 1999;White et al, 1995), or clinic or rehabilitation center populations (Ritsher, Coursey & Farrell, 1997).…”

“…Parents with mental illness routinely describe their relationships with their children and fulfilling the parenting role as extremely important to them (Nicholson et al, 1998a). They may prioritize their children's needs, and neglect their own (Nicholson et al) They may struggle to fulfill multiple role demands, and experience stress as they maintain a household, cope with the demands of work, and manage the behavior and activities of their children.…”

“…Mothers with mental illness describe themselves as needing help getting their children returned to them, and in dealing with sadness about being apart from their children (Joseph et al, 1999). Parents explain that when their parental rights are terminated, the pain never goes away (Nicholson et al, 1998a). To fail as parents may be quite traumatic.…”

How Care Is Negotiated Between a Young Carer and a Parent Experiencing Mental Illness and Addiction

“…For women with a mental illness, mothering can be a normalizing life experience (Nicholson, Sweeney, & Geller, 1998). Many mothers with mental illness experience difficulty dealing with both children's needs and managing their own illness (Obadina, 2010).…”