Back to ASCERT

Living with a Family’s Mental Health Problems.

Mental Health problems can affect anyone.

Mental Health

Mental health and its problems

When someone has a mental health problem, they may find everyday things very difficult to do and they may feel confused and upset a lot of the time. They may do things that seem normal to them, but to other people they may seem strange.

Without support and treatment, mental health problems can have a serious effect on the individual and those around them.
Every year in the UK, over 250,000 people are admitted to psychiatric hospitals because of serious mental health problems. Many more people will have a wide range of less serious mental health problems.
Mental health problems take many different forms and affect people in different ways. Schizophrenia, depression and personality disorders are all types of mental health problems.
It is no one’s fault. There is also no single reason why mental health problems can happen. The reasons they develop are complex, but it is likely to be a mixture of different things, which may include:

  • CHEMICALS IN THE BRAIN that control emotions being out of balance

  • Prolonged periods of serious WORRY & STRESS

  • SIGNIFICANT LOSS such as death of a close friend, job loss or other types of “endings”

  • Significant ALCOHOL OR OTHER DRUG ABUSE

What is important to remember, if you are living in this type of situation, is: No one is to blame for someone developing a mental health problem.

THE MAIN THING TO KNOW IS – That you cannot cause another person’s mental illness and you can’t catch it either.
Due to mental health problems being so common, the CYPSP (Children and Young People’s Strategic Partnership have developed information leaflets on living with mental health problems. These can be found at:

http://bit.do/CYPSPMI or you can visit https://www.mindingyourhead.info for more useful information.

X