Millions of children are in this situation, suffering shame and secrecy. Thankfully, that is changing
In recent years mental health has become a justified talking point, albeit one that remains chronically neglected in terms of funding and structural change.
Yet amid the clamour and the marketing and the celebrity authors, there is a group that remains silent: the millions of children in the UK who have a parent with a mental illness. According to the children’s commissioner for England, 3.7 million children aged 17 or under live with an adult who has “moderate or higher” symptoms of mental illness; in 1.6 million of those cases, the parent suffers from a severe mental health problem. According to a report commissioned by Our Time, the charity supporting young people affected by parental mental illness, 3 million children in Great Britain are living with a parent who has depression or anxiety.
Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett is a Guardian columnist
