Bakgrund: Det är få verksamheter inom vården som har de rutiner och den kunskap som krävs för att bemöta barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom. Sjuksköterskornas brist på kunskap och beredskap att stödja dessa barn leder till att barnen blir osynliga och inte får den information och det stöd som de behöver. Syfte: Att beskriva barns upplevelser av att leva med förälder med psykisk sjukdom. Metod: Litteraturstudie av tio vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ ansats. Resultat: Resultatet presenteras utifrån fyra huvudkategorier. Stöd och information var en av de viktigaste beståndsdelarna som barnen uttryckte. Att leva med en förälder med psykisk sjukdom påverkar barnen, de lever i oförutsägbarhet, upplever oro, rädsla, skuld och ökat ansvar för föräldern. Brist på information om förälderns sjukdom till barnen samt stöd från vården ledde till att barnens situation försvårades. Samtliga barn uttryckte en önskan om stöd från vården. Slutsats: Denna studie har visat att stöd är viktigt för barn till psykiskt sjuka föräldrar. Sjuksköterskor behöver mer kunskap och beredskap för att kunna synliggöra dessa barn och hjälpa dem till lämpliga stödinsatser. Klinisk betydelse: Genom att belysa barns upplevelser kan stöd, beredskap och utbildning för vårdpersonal utvecklas så att dessa barn får det stöd de behöver. / Background: There are few health care establishments who have the routines and the knowledge required to respond to the children with parents with mental illness. Nurses lack of knowledge and equipment to support these children leads to children becoming invisible and do not receive the information and support they need. Aim: To describe the children's experiences of living with a parent with a mental illness. Method: Literature review of ten scientific articles with an qualitative approach. Results: The results presented from the four main categories. Support and information was one of the key elements that the children expressed. Living with a parent with mental illness affects children, they live in unpredictability, experience anxiety, fear, guilt and responsibility for the parent. Lack of information about the parent's illness to the children and the support of health care led to the children's situation was complicated. All children expressed a desire for support from healthcare. Conclusion: This study has shown that aid is important for children of mentally ill parents. Nurses need more knowledge and equipment to make these invisible children visible and help them to appropriate support. Clinical significance: By illuminate children's experiences can support, equipment and education developed for caregivers so that these children receive the support they need.

It has been known for many years that the children of parents with mental illness run a high risk of developing psychiatric and other problems both during their childhood and later in adulthood. Meeting and providing support for the patients’ children has, however, been a neglected area in adult psychiatry until today. Recent supplementary legislation in the Nordic countries obligates the professionals in health services to take account of the needs for information and support of the children and their families when a parent suffers from a serious illness. Beardslee’s preventive family intervention (FI) is the first family-based and structured method used in psychiatric services in Sweden. The method has some evidence of positive long-term effects for the children and families with parental depression. The purpose of this thesis was to investigate the FIs safety and feasibility in Sweden (paper I), its’ perceived impact for the families (papers I, III and IV) and also to examine the process of the FI from the perspective of the ill parent, the other parent and the children (papers II, III and IV). The studies were conducted in naturalistic settings. The data in paper I was collected by using a questionnaire to parents and children (117 parents and 89 children responded) one month after an FI. Paper II comprises interviews with ten parents, suffering from depression, about their decision process for participation in an FI. In papers III and IV the data from 25 interviews with parents and 14 interviews with children about the experiences of the FI is presented. Seventy five professionals from 29 psychiatric units had conducted the FIs for the families that participated in the studies. The data was analyzed by descriptive statistics and chi2 (I), Grounded theory (II and III) and Qualitative content analysis (IV). The results in paper I showed that the overall satisfaction with the FI was high for both parents and children. Ninety three percent of the answers from parents to questions concerning the satisfaction with the FI were positive, and 71 % of the answers from the children. The reported perceived impact of the FI was also predominantly positive. Feelings of guilt decreased for 89 % of the children who had had feelings of guilt towards the parent prior to the FI. Knowledge about the parent’s illness was perceived to increase for 74 % of the children. There were a few negative answers about the impact of FI from the children; five children experienced increased concerns about the parent and three children reported a lower level of well-being after the FI. In paper II the interviews with the depressed parents revealed ambivalence in the decision to participate in an FI. The parents longed for knowing how their children were feeling, how they thought about the illness and if it had harmed them. On the other hand, the parents were anxious about hearing the answers to their questions, as feelings of shame and guilt were associated with these. Exposure to outside opinion was also both relieving and scaring. The examination of the parents’ experiences continued in paper III. The process of opening up the dialogue about the illness with the children was demanding. To listen to the children’s experiences, to find the words to speak about the illness to the children and finally to be able to start to talk about it in the family session required a solid base of confidence and security in the professionals and in the method. The FI as a method seemed to provide favorable conditions for an establishment of an alliance with the parents. The children’s experiences of the FI are presented in paper IV. Most of the children described a sense of relief because of better knowledge about the parent’s illness and increased communication in the family and thus they also felt released from some worry for the parent. They could spend more time with their friends and did not need to take so much responsibility at home. Parents and children in the same families described the changes in similar ways, indicating mutual understanding in the families. The parents experienced themselves as stronger in their roles as parents and less ashamed. In summary, the families are satisfied with their participation in FI, they report a positive impact and the number of perceived negative effects is low. The children describe a sense of relief from concerns about the parent’s illness.

<p>Barn påverkas av föräldrars psykiska sjukdom i form av oro, rädsla och skuld samt har en förhöjd risk att själva drabbas av psykisk sjukdom. En utmaning för den psykiatriska vården är det ökande antalet av vuxna med psykiatrisk sjukdom som även är föräldrar till minderåriga barn. Sjuksköterskor inom psykiatrin har en viktig roll när det gäller att uppmärksamma dessa barn samt se till att de får adekvat hjälp och stöd. Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom upplever det stöd de får ifrån den psykiatriska vården samt beskriva vårdpersonals upplevelser av stöd till dessa barn. Metoden som användes var kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer som<em> </em>genomfördes med sex barn som har föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom och fjorton vårdpersonal som arbetar inom den psykiatriska vården. Intervjuerna analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys och resultatet utmynnade i fyra kategorier. 1. Barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom upplever sig bli hjälpta av stödet från den psykiatriska vården även om det bör förbättras. 2. Vårdpersonal upplever att den psykiatriska vården erbjuder olika verksamheter som ger ett gott stöd till barn även om det bör förbättras. 3. Vårdpersonal upplever att barn behöver uppmärksammas, informeras och stödjas i kontakten med sina föräldrar. 4. Vårdpersonal upplever svårigheter i form av osäkerhet kring sin egen kunskap samt föräldrars ovilja att blanda in barn i den psykiatriska vården. En slutsats av studien är att barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom får ett relativt gott stöd även om det behöver förbättras. För att göra detta krävs utbildning av vårdpersonal och att verksamheten har framtagna rutiner och användbara metoder för att kunna stödja barn.</p> / <p>Children get affected by parents mentally illness in form of anxiety, fear and guilt and also have an enhanced risk to suffer from mentally illness themselves. A challenge to the psychiatric care is the increasing number of adults with a mental illness who also are parents to under aged children. Nurses in the psychiatric care have an important role when it comes to notice these children and make sure that they receive adequate help and support. The purpose of the study was to describe how children of mentally ill parents experience the support they receive from the psychiatric care and describe psychiatric healthcare workers experiences of these children’s support. The method that was used in this study was qualitative interviews with six children of mentally ill parents and fourteen psychiatric healthcare workers. The interviews were analysed based on qualitative content analysis and gave four categories as result. 1. Children of mentally ill parents experience help due to the support from the psychiatric care even though it should be improved. 2. Psychiatric healthcare workers experience that the psychiatric care offers a variable of activities that give a good support to children even though it should be improved. 3. Psychiatric healthcare workers experience that children need attention, be informed and supported in their relationship to their parents. 4. Psychiatric healthcare workers experience difficulties like insecurity about their own knowledge and parents’ unwillingness to involve the children in the psychiatric care. A conclusion from this study is that children of mentally ill parents receive a relatively good support even though it needs to be improved. To do that it takes education of the psychiatric healthcare workers and that the psychiatric care is given routines and useful methods to support children.</p>

Barn påverkas av föräldrars psykiska sjukdom i form av oro, rädsla och skuld samt har en förhöjd risk att själva drabbas av psykisk sjukdom. En utmaning för den psykiatriska vården är det ökande antalet av vuxna med psykiatrisk sjukdom som även är föräldrar till minderåriga barn. Sjuksköterskor inom psykiatrin har en viktig roll när det gäller att uppmärksamma dessa barn samt se till att de får adekvat hjälp och stöd. Syftet med studien var att beskriva hur barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom upplever det stöd de får ifrån den psykiatriska vården samt beskriva vårdpersonals upplevelser av stöd till dessa barn. Metoden som användes var kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer som genomfördes med sex barn som har föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom och fjorton vårdpersonal som arbetar inom den psykiatriska vården. Intervjuerna analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys och resultatet utmynnade i fyra kategorier. 1. Barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom upplever sig bli hjälpta av stödet från den psykiatriska vården även om det bör förbättras. 2. Vårdpersonal upplever att den psykiatriska vården erbjuder olika verksamheter som ger ett gott stöd till barn även om det bör förbättras. 3. Vårdpersonal upplever att barn behöver uppmärksammas, informeras och stödjas i kontakten med sina föräldrar. 4. Vårdpersonal upplever svårigheter i form av osäkerhet kring sin egen kunskap samt föräldrars ovilja att blanda in barn i den psykiatriska vården. En slutsats av studien är att barn till föräldrar med psykisk sjukdom får ett relativt gott stöd även om det behöver förbättras. För att göra detta krävs utbildning av vårdpersonal och att verksamheten har framtagna rutiner och användbara metoder för att kunna stödja barn. / Children get affected by parents mentally illness in form of anxiety, fear and guilt and also have an enhanced risk to suffer from mentally illness themselves. A challenge to the psychiatric care is the increasing number of adults with a mental illness who also are parents to under aged children. Nurses in the psychiatric care have an important role when it comes to notice these children and make sure that they receive adequate help and support. The purpose of the study was to describe how children of mentally ill parents experience the support they receive from the psychiatric care and describe psychiatric healthcare workers experiences of these children’s support. The method that was used in this study was qualitative interviews with six children of mentally ill parents and fourteen psychiatric healthcare workers. The interviews were analysed based on qualitative content analysis and gave four categories as result. 1. Children of mentally ill parents experience help due to the support from the psychiatric care even though it should be improved. 2. Psychiatric healthcare workers experience that the psychiatric care offers a variable of activities that give a good support to children even though it should be improved. 3. Psychiatric healthcare workers experience that children need attention, be informed and supported in their relationship to their parents. 4. Psychiatric healthcare workers experience difficulties like insecurity about their own knowledge and parents’ unwillingness to involve the children in the psychiatric care. A conclusion from this study is that children of mentally ill parents receive a relatively good support even though it needs to be improved. To do that it takes education of the psychiatric healthcare workers and that the psychiatric care is given routines and useful methods to support children.

The purpose of this essay was to investigate social workers' work with children who have mentally ill parents in order to gain a better understanding of their work and how it affects the children. Mental illness is today a growing public health problem. The proportion of Sweden's population suffering from some form of mental illness is increasing. Mental illness is both psychiatric conditions and mental disorders. It causes suffering for the individual themself, but it can also affect the individual's surroundings. A parent's mental illness affects the child through an increased risk that the child themself may develop a mental and physical illness as a young adult. Research shows that children who have mentally ill parents are an "invisible" group due to the fact that social workers often target the parents without attending to care for the children. Furthermore, research shows that there is a need for these children to be identified in order for them to receive support and that there is a lack of knowledge about care provision in Sweden.  The method used in this essay is a qualitative method and the data was collected by qualitative interviews. Our collected material has been analyzed through meaning categorization which includes coding. The conclusion that was made in this essay is that the social work with children who have a parent with mental illness is very diverse. There’s different ways a social worker can help the children and there are also factors that can hinder the work. However, it can be seen that the work contributes to the child feeling better and developing positively.