Young person’s guide to parental mental health launched

GETTING WITH IT Pictured at the launch of The WITH Project (Wellbeing In The Home), the first-ever young person’s guide to parental mental health, in the Linenhall Arts Centre are, seated, from left: Christine Mulligan (Maynooth University), Chloe Moyles, Niamh Lusson, Sarah Moran and Maria Walsh, MEP. Back, from left: Peadar Gardiner (Mindspace Mayo), Dean Kenny and Dr Sharyn Byrne (psychologist, HSE). The programme is the country’s first online resource for young people whose parents experience mental-health distress. Pic: Michael McLaughlin

Groundbreaking collaboration first of its kind in the country

Michael Gallagher

History was made in Castlebar on Friday morning when the country’s first online information resource for young people whose parents experience mental health distress was launched.
The WITH project (Wellbeing In The Home), is a young person’s guide to parental mental health, and is the culmination of two-year’s work by extremely dedicated individuals and groups.
WITH is a collaboration between Mayo Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Mindspace Mayo, young people representing Mindspace and Comhairle na nÓg, and young people who have used the CAMHS service.  
All of the resources were developed under the guidance of people who share the experience of living in families where mental illness is a part of family life, young people and service providers in the mental health field.
“Young people with parents who experience mental health distress are at increased vulnerability to developing mental health, behavioural, social, interpersonal and academic difficulties,” Dr Sharyn Byrne, Senior Clinical Psychologist told the large audience at the launch.  
“It is estimated that 10-15 percent of children experience parental mental health issues at some time in their childhoods, and one in three children and young people attending services have a parent with mental health difficulties.  Yet there are very few resources available to children and young people in Ireland on this topic.  

Signposts
“WITH provides information on various mental health difficulties that parents may experience and signposts young people to available supports. This resource was developed in recognition of the lack of such resources in Ireland, the distress that some young people can experience when their parent struggles with mental health difficulties and the need for this topic to be more openly discussed and resourced.
“Research into this area has often pointed to these children and young people as ‘forgotten’ and ‘hidden’ children. The resource aims to provide support and advice to these children and young people living with parental MH distress,” she added.
Those in attendance were given example of instances when children came home from school to find a neighbour cooking dinner, as their mother had ‘gone away’ for mental health treatment. The confusion and shock experienced by children in these situations was starkly described.
Ms Maria Walsh, MEP, who officially launched the project said that “the aim of the WITH Project is to foster better mental health outcomes for children of parents with a mental illness, reduce stigma associated with parental mental illness, and help friends, family and workers identify and respond to the needs of the children and their families where parental mental illness exists.”
At the launch Niamh Lusson, a member of the WITH Project Youth Group since it began its work in 2017, said that ‘being involved in this project and working with the rest of the youth panel, CAMHS and Mindspace has been so rewarding’.
She added: “The WITH project is such a necessary resource for young people and their families, and I’m so grateful I got to be a part of its creation. We finally have a resource dedicated to an often-overlooked aspect of Mental Health, and if we manage to help only one person, it will have been worth it.”
The WITH online resources are available on its own dedicated YouTube channel and national websites such as www.mindspacemayo.ie, www.yourmentalhealth.ie, and various HSE websites making it accessible to young people across the country who live with the impact of parent mental health distress.

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