When I compliacted understood loss and grief.

Abstract

A parent's mental illness was viewed as a loss, like a death, causing profound grief. I learned how important parent-child communication is as an important factor in managing my own grief. A child's grief, in this case, from loss of a parent due to mental illness, as in death, was profound at the time and did affect many aspects of my life. The failure to intervene in a timely fashion impaired effective resolution of that grief. Assessment of family dynamics and communication is critical to building coping skills for any young child dealing with loss of parental support due to mental illness. Early intervention with young children in need of emotional support and security is needed to assist them with effective adaptation to grief and loss. It is expected that loss of a parent from death will undoubtedly cause children to grieve. With supportive interventions, children can recover and grow into healthy, well-adjusted adults. Severe mental illness in a parent, however, also creates loss by altering the parent-child relationship, often leaving children confused, frightened and feeling alone. In the past, family members, especially the remaining parent, might not have recognized the symptoms of a grieving child and the system at that time was not well prepared to assist them in meeting that need. This is the story of one such child.