Andrea Bain

It's difficult to know what to do when your adult child has the symptoms of a mental illness. We encourage our children to be independent and take care of themselves. But what do we do as a parent if our adult child is struggling with depression, anxiety and  mania? It's often hard to know what to say or do  if you feel like they should seek treatment, especially if they don't recognize the issue themselves. This is a common issue for parents since mood disorders often appear in young adults at about the age that they are trying to set out on their own.

Being diagnosed with bipolar disorder was one of the most traumatic events of my life. The illness presented itself in my teens and at the time I was unaware of the possibility that my experiences had a diagnosis and that things could get better. By the time I began experiencing panic attacks, catatonia and hallucinations I was careful to hide when I felt under enough stress to bring these symptoms on. My family knew something was wrong.