(L to R) Mike O’Neill, Mid West ARIES Manager, Taryn Fitzpatrick, Child & Family Support Network Coordinator Prevention Partnership & Family Support, Tusla, Margaret Keane, Education, Training & Development Officer, Mid West ARIES and Martina Kilcommins, Senior Social Work Practitioner, Adult Mental Health Service, HSE Mid West
We were delighted to attend the launch of a new national study highlighting the difficulties of parenting with mental health challenges in Ennis on Friday, April 11th.
Over 200 parents from around Ireland completed the anonymous online survey when it opened on World Mental Day last October. Entitled Building Connections: Experiences of parenting while living with mental health challenges, the study aimed to find out more about the difficulties parents face, and the supports and barriers that are in place in terms of seeking help. The publication was launched in Ennis on Friday 11 April.
The survey findings showed considerable difficulties for parents with mental health challenges in terms of increased parenting challenges. These challenges included access to appropriate parenting supports, balancing medication needs and side effects with parenting responsibilities, and speaking with their child about their mental health challenges.
One parent who responded to the survey commented that: “I felt so bad because I thought as a parent, I should have been the stable person, the person with answers, the person who could control their emotions. I’ll never forget the look on my daughter’s face on the day I broke down.”
Other key findings showed that for parents with mental health challenges:
- 83% said their parenting challenges were sometimes or always more difficult because of their mental health challenges
- 66% had more than one mental health challenge (e.g., anxiety and depression)
- 67% had taken medication at some stage for their mental health challenge, but 54% said their role as a parent was not included in discussions around their medication
- 46% did not know where to access parenting supports
According to MIC, “previous Irish research suggests that approximately 23% of families have at least one parent who has experienced a mental health disorder (Mulligan et al., 2021), with adults in Ireland having one of the highest incidences of mental health illness across Europe (OECD, 2021). Research is essential to target what kind of support is needed and what will be most beneficial to families.”
