It took decades after leaving care to get the mental health help I needed

an article by Jolene Campbell published in the Guardian

It took a crisis for me to get the specialist support that children in care should receive from the start


‘Adverse childhood experiences can have long-term effects on psychological health and wellbeing.’ Photograph: Alamy Stock Photo

Almost 30 years later, my heart still pounds when I think about the night before I was taken into care at the age of 10. Left alone in the house and sleeping with a knife under my pillow. To this day I have nightmares about it.

Trauma in childhood creates physical changes in the body; it makes us more likely to develop serious illnesses and increases the odds of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder later in life.

Looked-after children and young people have much poorer mental health than others; at least half have a mental health condition. About a quarter have had a mental health crisis since leaving care. According to charities such as Barnardo’s, most do not get specialist support.

Such systemic failure is brought into sharp focus when we consider that, in Scotland, the vast majority are referred to the children’s reporter for care and protection reasons. Neglect and lack of parental care is the most common reason for a child in Scotland to be on the child protection register.

Adverse childhood experiences like neglect can have complex, long-term effects on psychological health and wellbeing. My own experience bears out the growing evidence.

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A fractured journey of growth: making meaning of a ‘Broken’ childhood and parental mental ill-health

an article by Lynne McCormack and Sarah White (University of Newcastle, Callaghan, Australia) and José Cuenca (Universidad Iberoamericana Puebla, San Andres Cholula, Mexico) published in Community, Work & Family Volume 20 Issue 3 (2017)

Abstract

The psychopathological impact of parental mental ill-health on children is well known. However, little research explores positive and negative interpretations of such exposure in childhood, from the adult child's perspective.

Using interpretative phenomenological analysis this study sought subjective interpretations of the ‘lived’ experiences of growing up in a family with parental mental ill-health. A purposive sample of seven adult children provided data for analysis through semi-structured interviews.

One superordinate theme: A fractured journey of growth to adulthood, overarched six subordinate themes. Four themes captured stigma, shame, social isolation and betrayal. Juxtaposed with this, two themes captured purposeful redefinition of self and psychological growth.

This study captures the chronicity of traumatic distress and sense of betrayal experienced by these participants in childhood through unrelenting exposure to parental mental ill-health. However, despite unpredictability, fear, and neglect in childhood, they identified the emergence of inner strengths in adult life: unexpected growth in empathy and compassion, high resourcefulness, and personal authenticity through higher education.

Findings highlight that positively redefining ‘self’ in adult life is possible in the aftermath of childhood trauma associated with parental mental ill-health. Implications for therapy include:
   a) moving forward from childhood trauma and
   b) managing ongoing family dynamics in adult-life.

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