Your parent has a mental illness? | Special file for young adults

This special file was created as part of the project “A web platform to support the mental health of young people (0 to 25 years old) whose parents have a mental illness”. Indeed, approximately 20% of young Canadians live with a parent with a mental illness. These young people are more at risk of experiencing social, emotional and academic difficulties and of developing a mental illness. The support to be provided to these young people, from childhood to entry into adulthood, is now a priority (Excerpt from the submission of the research project).

This project therefore aims to support the well-being and mental health of young people, from childhood to the transition to adult life, who have a parent with a mental illness. The project includes three special files according to the targets: one for children and their parents, one for teenagers and one for young adults.

This collaborative project was carried out with Geneviève Piché and Aude Villate, co-directors of the Laboratoire de recherche et d’actions pour les personnes ayant des problèmes de santé mentale et leurs proches (LaPProche) at the Université du Québec en Outaouais (UQO) and scientific managers of special files. This project would not have been possible without the financial contribution of the MES (Fonds des services aux collectivités #2018-013).

The texts included in this special file therefore aim to :

• Inform about mental illness and their impact on a family
• Raise awareness of mental illness with the aim of reducing stigma
• Equip and support young people, their parents and those around them to face the challenges related to the presence of a mental illness in a parent
• Promote access to help resources and professional and informal support

A part of this project intended for mental health workers can be found on the “Professionals” portal in the “My relationship with others” section.

With the financial support of :