Parenting with mental health issues

[jlm10513]

Just curious to know about people's experiences parenting with mental health issues.

I have major depression and am mother to a 23 month old girl. I struggle with thoughts of suicide and shes the reason Im still here. How do other parents here juggle looking after your own mental health and your feelings and manage to parent at the same time? Do children help or does the stress overwhelm?

[Mike78tan]

Love we feel for our children is something uncomparable and beautiful. Child can give you the strength you need. Always have in mind how your child would feel if she lose her mother? But what I seriously suggest is that you look for a professional help. Please do that and do it as soon as possible.

[Jolly jo]

I speak as someone who was parented by a mentally ill mother and went on to parent as a mentally ill mother. I strongly believe that being parented by her lead, in no small part, to me being a mentally ill parent.
I don't know what her diagnosis was but it would have been significant depression and lots of other stuff that meant she was more concerned with herself than her children and was unavailable emotionally for most of my childhood.
I went on to have my own issues with depression and DID and this negatively impacted on my own children, particularly my son who now has his own problems.
I am sure that if you are still reading JLM, you are probably horrified but the point of this post is that neither she, nor I , questioned our parenting or what our children needed. You are already doing this and I think this is the key to ensuring you can be a 'good enough' parent.
For my part, I finally got the help I needed after I reached crisis point when the my children were in their teens and although it is too late to repair the damage I did to my sons emotional wellbeing, it has meant that the relationship I have with my grandchildren is better than I could ever have hoped.

[jlm10513]

I can definitely relate jo. Id say my own mother has ptsd and there were definitely times when I would say she shouldn't have been expected to care for us.

My daughter is definitely the reason I'm still here because her father hasn't been there since she was nine weeks old and doesn't make an effort to see her. She has plenty of good male role models however. The wee moments where she hugs me spontaneously keep me hanging on. I dont want to make her childhood as chaotic as my own and I dont think that will happen if I allow myself to get support like my mother didn't.

I Had a mental breakdown a few months ago and I do fear that the pressure eof being a single parent and having mental health issues is detrimental to my wellbeing as a whole and may affect my ability to be a great mother.