For young people

• Living with psychosis
• Support for ‘young carers’

Living with psychosis

If your mum, dad, brother or sister has psychosis, it may sometimes be difficult at home. You may have a lot to do looking after your parent or sibling. Or you may help one parent take care of the other, or help both of them care for your sister or brother.

If you offer a lot of support, you may get behind at school, or feel tired all the time, or not see enough of your friends. You may not have enough time to get on with your own life. You may feel neglected and lonely because your mum or dad, or both of them, are spending all their time concentrating on the needs of the person who is ill, or you may feel angry that your parent, brother or sister acts in a strange way, or resentful because it seems like your sibling is getting away with bad behaviour.

Being related to someone who has psychosis can be confusing and sometimes frightening.

You may feel ashamed and be too embarrassed to ask friends home or talk about your family life. It may feel like you are walking around carrying a huge secret. You may be worried that you too might become ill in future.

It’s important to talk to someone you trust about what is happening at home. This could be another relative, your GP, or a teacher. Or you could talk to one of the mental health professionals who are supporting the family member who is ill.

It can help if you understand why your parent or sibling is behaving the way they do. One way to do that is to find out about the diagnosis they have been given. This website contains a lot of information about psychosis, and you can email a question to the Ask the psychiatrist, Ask the psychologist or Ask the pharmacist page if you want to find out more.

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Support for ‘young carers’

The term ‘young carer’ describes someone who is under 18 and helps look after a member of their family who is physically or mentally unwell for a long time.

There are organisations to support young carers, give them practical assistance and help them cope with their own feelings and emotions. Some of those organisations are listed on this page.

It may help you to talk to other young people who have had a similar experience. You can find a group that can offer you support and give you information in your neighbourhood by visiting www.youngcarer.com. This website has been put together by the Children’s Society which runs a project called The National Young Carers Initiative.

The Princess Royal Trust for Carers has set up www.youngcarers.net which is a website for young carers where you can have online discussions and find useful information.

Many young people who help care for someone have to do extra work around the house, or help the person look after themselves. Young carers can have their own needs assessed and this might lead to practical help and support for the family. You have to ask your local social services department to do this, and your GP or teacher, or one of the mental health professionals in touch with your family, can help you organise this. If you’re under 16, you can ask for an assessment of your needs at the same time as the needs of the person who is ill are being assessed. If you’re over 16, you can ask for an assessment at any time.