Hi

[Chane1996]

Hello my name Chenelle I was wondering what I can do to help my dad that can help my mum?? My mum does have mental illness need help.

[white knight]

Hi chance, welcome

You care a lot about your parents to post.

You'll need to explain the situation in greater detail please...

What illness does she have?

Are they elderly

How is your dad coping?

Any other relevant information

Tony WK

[White_Rose]

Dear Chane

Hello and welcome to Beyond Blue. We would love to help but as White Knight has said, we can help more effectively if you give a few more ideas. Meanwhile, as a starting point, have a look at the information available on BB. Go to the blue tabs at the top of the page and look under The Facts and under Supporting Someone.

Please get back to us as there are many people here caring for someone with a mental illness and who can talk to you. I see you have posted under Supporting Family and Friends. It's a good idea to read about the experiences of others and perhaps join one or more of the conversations.

It's lovely to know you care about your parents.

Mary

[Nicoc]

Hiya Chenelle

I love the fact that you want to help support both the sufferer of mental illness (your mum) and the carer (your dad).

I have a mental illness too but unfortunately my children aren't very accepting. They still feel as though it's an embarrassment and I think deep down they're scared they too might have the same genetic disposition.

As White Knight and White Rose have said, the first thing to do is to look at the resources on the BB site. Educating yourself if the best thing you can do to help you to help your family. There are many tools available...

And remember...mental illness is just like any other illness, therefore, it's beneficial to equip yourself with relevant information and a strong support network.

Good luck.

[White_Rose]

Hello Chenelle

How are you going? I hope you can tell us more about your situation. It's difficult to offer ideas and suggestions without knowing a little more about you.

Can you talk about your mom and tell us what is happening for her. How is your dad coping? It's important for carers that they take care of their own health, physical and psychological. I think it would help you to talk to some of the folk here who are carers so I will ask them to post here.

Remember you can talk to us anytime, especially if you have any questions you want answered. The phone help line is also available 24/7. 1300 22 4636

Mary

[romantic_thi3f]

Hey Chane1996,

Welcome to the forums and thanks so much for reaching out to us.

I can see there's been so many replies already. It would be very helpful to know what sort of mental illness your mum has and how it's affecting everyone; one person might have depression and another bipolar or schizophrenia so while they are all mental illnesses they are so so different.

I can imagine that it must be hard at the moment, do you have people that you can talk to about this?

If you ever feel like talking more - you can chat online as it can be a bit less scary. Both Kids Help Line and Headspace have online chats that can be helpful. Also COPMI is a great resource to try and understand mental illness a little better - http://www.copmi.net.au/kids-young-people

It's also great that you want to help your dad help your mum but it's not your job either 🙂 Maybe you could get your dad to reach out to us or someone or even your mum?