A search was carried out to examine the topic of young carers of someone with mental health issues. The search looks at; the impact on these young carers, some of their experiences, their specific needs, and examples of specific support for this group of young carers.
The full search report is available to download below.
Impact on these young carers
Young carers of someone with mental health issues may experience many of the same issues as other young carers but they can also face additional and exacerbated issues these include:
- Increased risk of mental health difficulties
- Lack of parental support/attention
- Stigma/feel different
- Higher risk of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs)
- Self-blame
- Poor social support/friendship issues
- Fear becoming ill themselves
- Parent behaviour can be confusing, scary, overwhelming worrying or distressing
- Role reversal/responsibility
- Emotional and behavioural problems
- Unpredictability and instability
- Loss and sorrow
- Barriers to addressing health and social care needs
Experiences of these young carers
Some themes that came across from the experiences included:
- Feeling scared/worried
- Needing information about the mental illness
- Forgotten by professionals
Specific needs of these young carers
Some of the key needs identified included:
- Support (school, peers, key worker, other)
- Information
- Screening for adverse childhood experiences
- Bespoke services
- Advocacy
- Awareness/included by professionals
- Family centred approach
- Security
- Plan if parent in hospital
- To be a child
Examples of specific support
The many examples of good practice tended to use one or more of the following approaches:
- Peer support
- Family-centred
- Raising awareness/training
- Tailored information
- Therapies
Please note these search results are not exhaustive but provide an overview of the topic areas.
