9 to 12 Year Olds

Hi! Welcome to this Champs web page. You may like to check out the 5-8 year old page as well, and ask an older person to help , if there is anything you don't understand.

Mental illness can make people think, feel, and act differently from other people. This may mean that your mum or dad may seem different than what you are used to.

Important facts

Three types of mental illness

Helping people who have mental illness

Crisis Action Plan

How do children feel when their parent has a mental illness?

• Children are not alone in feeling worried, and mixed up if someone in their family has a mental illness. All children, at times have different sorts of feelings about what is happening in their life.
• You might feel angry and wonder why it has to happen in your family.
• You might get embarrassed, and not want anyone to know that a member of your family is "crazy"
• You might feel guilty, and think that you did something to make the other person mentally ill.
• You might feel guilty if you get angry with the other person.
• You might feel scared when the parent talks about weird things, or talks about wanting to die.
• You might get confused about what is happening to your parent, and may not feel it is OK to talk about what is going on.
• Children often may feel responsible for looking after their parent or making sure they are cared for, as well as looking after other things in the family.