Tag: support

A Broken Understanding

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Last weekend, our little family among millions accomplished something grand.

It’s actually so monumental to us as a family that I imagine that the universe celebrated along with us at the very moment that it happened maybe even with the creation of a new star out there somewhere in the galaxy. The residue from broken egos gathered like magnetized dust particles and came together in agreement. At that moment, a new and positive energy was created, and it’s unfolding with great purpose. While our accomplishment may seem like no feat at all to others, it’s life changing for us individually and as a family.

Simply put…

Bill and Kim have learned how to work together, not just as a father and daughter, but as musicians. I want to say that they put their egos aside, but that’s not actually what happened. What really happened is that their egos chronically, like a long-term illness, collided day after day and year after year, and it wasn’t a pretty father-daughter dance. In fact, as in many parent–child relationships, it isn’t pretty. And that’s okay because from our experience, imperfection can result in something even greater than we had imagined. Bill and Kim didn’t put their egos aside. Instead, with broken egos front and center, they decided to finally, and truly, work together.

Getting to that moment wasn’t easy…

Last summer, Bill and Kim had talked about working together as musicians, and at one point in time it appeared that they had come to an agreement regarding the direction that they were headed with Kim’s music career. It seemed that they had teamed up and were well on their way to forming a working band. However, for us, it couldn’t be that easy. And in all reality, they were not practicing together. They’d talk about it, but they just didn’t seem to be able to sit down and practice together for very long before getting into some disagreement. Last week, Bill learned that Kim was not in agreement with him regarding the creation of music, lyrics and copyright. They were at a crossroad. It looked like the time had come that Bill would no longer be a part of Kim’s musical journey, and we sadly thought that maybe he never was a part of her journey. Bill and I talked about the possibility that maybe the accumulation of music gear, guitar lessons, healed blisters and melted ice-packs were a false reality that we had created for ourselves as parents, and if so, how unfair to Kim.

Had We been lying to ourselves?

After careful deliberation, we got to the point that we told Kim, “It’s your career. You are in charge of it. You do what is right for you. You know what you are doing. We will still support you, but we can’t move forward with mom and dad as direct partners. You’ll figure it out.” And then this awful dark feeling enveloped our little family, and our smiles dissipated as if they never existed before. Sadness filled my heart, and emptiness. I wondered if I was desperately clinging to Kim all these years later after her last suicide attempt by way of music, and I wondered if Bill was doing the same. The following day, we didn’t talk to one another. Rather, we existed together.

And then…

that same day, moment by moment lapsed…and without really thinking about it…and somehow with all the motherly confidence that I had ever gathered before, particle by particle, I walked outside to the patio where Bill and Kim were. Bill was standing there playing guitar, and Kim was seated at the patio table. I looked at each of them and said, “We have to make this work for you Kim, and for you Bill, and for Jaden, and for me.” I then walked back inside the house. That was it. That was all I had, and I like to believe that it was enough.

Later that evening, Kim shared with Bill and I that she had received an email from a potential client who wanted to know if she could perform at an upcoming event. Bill and I hesitated to get involved with her decision making process and told her that it was up to her to decide how to respond and move forward with this new and exciting opportunity. She then asked Bill for his help. She said, “Dad, I need help with equipment and sound checks. And I need a guitarist.” Nothing more needed to be said. Bill and Kim started to talk to one another again, and they started to truly practice together, and they’ve been working together ever since. We move forward with renewed respect for one another, and we continue to support one another’s definition of self: Kim – singer/songwriter, Bill – guitarist, Stacy – writer, and Jaden – busy being three…1 little family among millions doing it differently…

You can find Kim here: https://www.kimking.us/

~ Stacy (1 Mom)

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A Dad Takes Note | He Learns How to Play Electric Guitar and Joins His Daughter on Her Musical Journey

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How is it that a dad in his early fifties decides to learn how to play an electric guitar?

Is it the fulfillment of a childhood dream or perhaps a mid-life crisis? No. It’s neither. It simply has to do with love and respect for Kim as a singer and finding artists who are compatible with Kim who don’t have: ulterior motives, hidden criminal backgrounds and a myriad of other problems and ramifications that come with finding musicians for a band. That is what led this dad to pick up a guitar, learn Kim’s original music and cover songs, and join her on her musical journey.

What got us here today…

Ever since Kim was a little girl, she dreamed of becoming an established singer/songwriter, and she has worked diligently to fulfill her dream. Throughout her formative years, she wrote original music and performed at school functions and competed in local and national singing competitions. And by the time she was 19 years old, she had also performed with a few different bands. Around this time in her life, Bill advised her to form her own band, but she didn’t. It wasn’t until years later, when we moved to Tampa, Florida, that she finally decided to take Bill’s advice. However, she had nothing but problems. Listed below are a few:

  • Egos
  • Musicians that expected to be paid
  • Musicians that didn’t show up
  • Musicians that purported to be one thing but were not and certainly were not looking out for Kim’s best interests

I imagine that you might be thinking, based on the short list above, that these are typical problems that anyone might experience when trying to form a band. And I’m sure they are. However, for us, we got to a point when we realized that we had lost control for a brief moment. Bill, Kim and I had an awful, and sickening, “Oh my God!” moment when we it dawned on us, during a frightening experience, that we were working possibly with a wolf or two in sheep’s’ clothing, and that we were actually putting our family, and especially Kim, at great risk as we encouraged her to continue to work through the challenges of finding the right musicians.

We had gotten to the point where Kim was Inviting people into her life that she didn’t know…

all for the sake of starting a band from the ground up. Eventually, it got to a point where she had people come out of the woodwork that said that they wanted to help her, when in all reality they wanted to work with Kim because there was something it for themselves. At this point in the blog post, I am choosing not to highlight our OMG! moment because it doesn’t deserve the attention it would get. Instead, I want to highlight the good that has come out of a negative situation.

To help Kim form her band, Bill came up with an idea…

Last summer, during a conversation with Kim, he said, “What if I become your guitarist? Give me a month to see how far I can get learning guitar, and if it looks like something I can do, then we’ll make a decision to move forward.” After Bill’s startling announcement, we decided to have a family meeting during which we shared our thoughts and concerns about Bill becoming Kim’s guitarist. Naturally, the main concern was whether or not Bill could learn to play guitar at Kim’s level. We all agreed to give it a try. Since that day, our house has been filled with an energy that we’d been missing for awhile, an energy filled with renewed hope and optimism for a new beginning, the normal anxiety and concern that accompanies doing something new, high expectations for one another, the continued support for one another, and music.

About a month after Bill’s announcement, he hesitantly asked Kim, “Am I hired?”

She replied, “Yes Dad! You’re hired!” And so, Kim is at the helm of a unique and promising adventure with her dad. The rewards of our family decision have become endless, and of utmost importance, we can protect Kim as she furthers her music career. Despite the obstacles, Kim’s not giving up, and neither are we. And life comes full circle. 1 daughter, a grown woman by now, gets to teach, guide and support her dad as he learns how to play electric guitar and all that comes with being musicians. A band is forming and magic is starting to come out of this very unique situation…can you feel it? Next up, I’ll be talking about egos that just might be as big as the Sunshine State!

~ Stacy (1 Mom)

The Sound of Silence

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Do you know what depression or mental illness sound like? Can you hear depression in a friend’s voice? Do you recognize it in your significant other’s cry? And if you could hear mental illness, what exactly would it sound like? Mental illness has a few different sounds to me. It’s a whisper so quiet that only those paying full attention can hear. Even the ones who are paying attention sometimes miss the whisper, and it fades until it is unrecognizable. Mental illness can also be a yell. It can be a yell so loud that those around are frightened and try to avoid the sound as it pierces the sky.

Whenever I’m depressed, I go silent. My body aches, and I feel like I haven’t slept in far too long. Depression can be draining and so can mania. I once spent a whole year barely speaking to my friends, family and boyfriend at the time. It was easier to stare off into the distance and imagine I didn’t feel as bad as I did. It would be easier to not speak words than to simply say how I felt. Admitting I was depressed was easy. However, trying to find the courage, strength and energy to say any words was exhausting to even think about.

Important to note, I’m not the only one in my household that lives with depression. My mom also experiences depression. Since she is intimately familiar with depression, I asked her what she thought of this blog post, knowing that she’d be honest with me. With her permission, I’d like to share what she had to say:

“First, thank you Kim for asking me how I feel when I get depressed. No one really has ever asked me,  probably because I’ve never shared that I experience depression from time to time. I’ve only shared this with you and dad, and Paul and Katlin. When I think about how I feel, when depression descends for awhile, immediately a song comes to my mind. That song is “The Sound of Silence,” but it’s not the Simon & Garfunkel version that I’m talking about. It’s the remake that the rock band Disturbed did. When I hear the first 12 words,  I feel an eerie sense of familiarity. Those 12 words are painfully familiar to me. It sounds silly maybe. I can’t believe that words alone can have such an affect on me, but they do. If you decide to share my thoughts with anyone, don’t tell them the words. I’d like to invite them to listen to the song, especially those first 12 words. I think the words have a way of getting to the core of silence somehow. In silence, depression resides…”

Silence is not the only sign of mental illness. The National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides a helpful list of signs and symptoms. If you’d like to learn more, click here: Know the Warning Signs. I hope that you find this blog post to be helpful, if not for you, for someone you care about.

Until next time…

~ Kim (1 Daughter) and Stacy (1 Mom)

References

D. (2015, December 08). Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9Dg-g7t2l4

Help With Depression. (n.d.). Retrieved April 20, 2017, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/depression

Know The Warning Signs. (n.d.). Retrieved April 19, 2017, from https://www.nami.org/Learn-More/Know-the-Warning-Signs

Parekh, R., M.D., M.P.H. (2015, November). What Is Mental Illness? Retrieved April 19, 2017, from https://www.psychiatry.org/patients-families/what-is-mental-illness

 

 

 

An Open Letter to My Adult Child, Now a Mother Herself, Who Still Lives at Home

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To My Beautiful Daughter,

I’m writing this letter to you to let you know that your dream of becoming independent hasn’t gone unnoticed and to let you know that you’ll get there. It must have been tough to have watched your siblings, who you grew up with, complete college, land steady careers and move out of our house and into their own homes. It appeared to be easier for you to see your brother move on with his life since he is the oldest. However, I’ll never forget the yearning for independence that I noticed in your blue eyes when your younger sister moved out of the house for the first time. That was about six years ago. Today, you still live at home with Dad and I, and now you have your very own little one to care for. It was, and still is, painful for me to see you long for a life of your own. To help you on your way, I have a few questions for you.

Have I told you lately that I love you?

I love you. In fact, I can’t even begin to express how much I love you. I have loved you since before the day you were born. I love you beyond measure. I know you’ve heard me say the famous Toy Story quote; I love you “to infinity and beyond!” I really do. Don’t ever forget that. When times get tough, and you wonder if you’ll ever gain that independence that you hunger for, and deserve, know that no matter what, you are loved.

Have I told you lately that you matter?

You matter. Yes, your brother and sister have moved on with their lives. However, in time, you will too. Regardless, you matter. You are an integral part of this family. You are part of what makes “us” work. It doesn’t matter that you are still living at home. That just happens to be a part of your story, and it’s okay. Every person on this Earth approaches life differently, and life unfolds differently for each person as well. That’s what’s beautiful. You are beautifully unique just like the next person. Never forget that you matter.

Have I told you lately that you are smart?

You are smart. There are many indicators that express just how intelligent you are. For example, you successfully completed grade school, middle school and high school. You successfully completed CNA training in college and worked in the field. You have successfully been a member of the work force in various positions. This alone shows flexibility as well as smarts. You are musically intelligent. As a singer, songwriter and performer you exude brilliance. And you have emotional intelligence that is rare. You are able to connect with people, no matter who they are, and reignite their passions just like you did for your friend who is a pianist. You’ve never met him in person yet the connection you made with him online, including the support you provided him, will have an ever-lasting, positive effect on him. You helped him learn that he matters too. That’s emotional brilliance that many desire. And I’ve only just begun. You are intelligent in so many other ways as well. Never forget that you are just as smart as anyone else.

Have I told you lately that you are strong?

You are strong. You are a survivor. You’ve endured and survived, to name a few: bullying, mental illness, unhealthy relationships, suicide attempts and stigma. And as a new mommy, you’ve survived a difficult pregnancy, a C-section and the absence of the father. It takes a strong woman to survive what you’ve survived. You’ve managed to climb the walls of what seem to be insurmountable life obstacles, and though scarred, you’ve safely landed on the other side. You’ve done it. And now, you live to care for your beautiful daughter as well as yourself. Never forget that you are strong. You are a warrior.

Have I told you lately that you have my support?

You have my support. I’ll be here for you as you take on more responsibility. I imagine that as you move forward with creating a life of your own that you’ll be pleasantly surprised at how well you can, and will, care for yourself and your daughter. And, if needed, we can discuss how best I can help. You know that I can’t always help monetarily, but there are other ways that I can help. You have my support.

Have I told you lately to not be afraid to take risks?

Don’t be afraid to take risks. It can be frightening to put ourselves on the front line of whatever it is our heart desires. You just need to trust yourself and know that you can do it. You know that you have a strong foundation from which to grow: you are loved, you matter, you are smart, you are strong and you have my support. Moving forward with whatever it is you desire is one of the first steps to success. And if you don’t get where you are going the first time, keep going. Don’t give up. As you move forward, and take risks, you just might land right where you want to be. Sometimes, as we chase our dreams, we realize that the end outcome looks a little different. And it’s okay. Don’t be afraid to take risks.

Have I told you lately that you make me proud?

You make me proud. In fact, I couldn’t be prouder because first and foremost I have the privilege of being your mom. I’m proud of the person you are. I’m proud of the mother you are. I’m proud of your achievements, and I’m proud of who you strive to be. You make me proud.

Have I told you lately that you will make it?

You will make it. It won’t be long, and you too, and your little one, will move out of the house and into your own home. You too will become independent just like your brother and sister. Never forget that you have the tools to do so. You will be successful. In fact, you already are. Stand tall, knowing that you have what you need to move forward, and create that beautiful life you’ve dreamed of for you and your beautiful little one. It’s waiting…

Love Always ~ to infinity and beyond!

Mom

The Truth About Empathy | Do We Really “Get it?”

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I imagine that you’ve heard the word empathy. However, do you know what it really means? The truth about empathy has escaped many people, but there are those that know its true meaning. I’ve had a reoccurring thought lately that gets to the heart of empathy. What is this thought?

Do you ever have reoccurring thoughts about what others might be thinking about you…

especially in regard to how you orchestrate your life? I sure do. Even though I know that this type of thinking isn’t helpful, I still have moments where I think that I know what someone else is thinking about me. When I have those types of thoughts, I try not to linger with them for long because I know it’s self- destructive. Also, I try not to take these thoughts too seriously because I think it’s just part of our nature as humans. Even though I know what others think of me and what I do doesn’t matter, lately, I’ve had this reoccurring thought that perhaps others might think that I’m looking for sympathy through writing. It seems so strange to actually write out this thought. And by writing it out, I see how silly and unjustified it is.

Regardless of how silly and unjustified the thought is that others might think that I want sympathy…

now that I’ve shared this thought with the world, I find that I do want to clarify it. Maybe if I do, the thought will disappear into oblivion. The realist in me whispers, “No, it won’t.” I’ll give it a try anyway. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me or my family. This would be sympathy, and I’m not seeking sympathy. I don’t want anyone to feel sorry for me. And I certainly wouldn’t want anyone to change what has happened. To do so would invalidate my experience. Without my experiences, I wouldn’t be where I am today. What I do want is for other to “get it.” To me, if others could “get it” then we’d make tremendous strides in erasing the stigma of mental illness, providing the highest quality of care possible for persons living with mental illness and preventing suicide.

Without empathy, to me, it’s a hard sell.

How do I know? Because I’ve been there. Before my experiences with my loved one, I didn’t think about mental illness or stigma. I didn’t have to, and therefore I proceeded with my life as if it didn’t exist. If it didn’t exist in my life, as I knew it, why would it matter? However, once my life was impacted by the mental illness of one of my children, I took notice, and suddenly mental illness and stigma mattered. By the time it came to matter in my life, I almost lost a child. Let’s not continue to risk losing one another because we don’t “get it.” Let’s come together to share, talk and listen. Let’s come together and put aside our viewpoints. Let’s try to see things from the other person’s point of view. Let’s examine our attitudes. Let’s ask what the other person would do. Let’s walk in each other’s shoes so to speak so that we can make the world a better place for those we love and those around us. Let’s “get it” together.

Dad’s Coat | True Family Teamwork

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Do you happen to have a busy household with adult children still living at home with you? Perhaps you have grandchildren living with you as well? I do, and I find myself wondering at times how we manage to make it work. To give you an idea of what my household looks like in regard to the number and diversity of the occupants, imagine that you have a birds eye view of my house as if you were a bird flying over it. You can be any bird you like. As you fly over my house, with the weight of the world below you, your birds eye view would reveal that there are four different people from three different generations living under one roof. And the three adult persons all work doing very different jobs. One person is a project manager, one person is a singer, and one person is a writer. The adorable wee little one that actually runs the house, truth be know, has a job too. She’s busy being a two year old. What you can’t see from your birds eye view is that we have two other adult children who are grown and living on their own far from our nest. Therefore, we have a half full nest. I think that what makes our half full nest work is that we have infinite unconditional love for one another and another ingredient. It’s called true family teamwork. Last weekend, I happened to catch a glimpse of our teamwork in action, and it revolved around, and as my kids call him, Dad’s coat.

Bill had been outside working on the house. The work he is doing is A monumental TASK To say the least.

He’s completely overhauling the outside of the house, a house that had been neglected by the previous owners. After years of being exposed to humid and wet weather, the old, cedar plank siding with its random splits across each plank and warped edges that curl up, and that have become home to some small lizards, is being removed and replaced single handedly by Bill with new siding meant to withstand Florida’s humid subtropical climate. The windows are also coming out, one by one, and are being replaced with impact resistant windows. Soon we will have a house that will be more energy efficient, and it will be protected from most of Mother Nature’s unpredictable forces. At this time in our lives together, I can’t claim fame to any of the tremendous amount of work being done on the house due to a bad back and another issue that has come up recently.

I feel awful that I can’t help like I used to. Of course, there are things that I can do like hand him tools, help with clean up and other various tasks, but I can’t help with the heavy lifting. Luckily, with Kim still living at home, he has help! Even though we have our challenges as a family, we sure know how to work together. When Bill needs help with lifting or with other tasks that I can’t do, Kim steps in and helps. In the meantime, I watch our granddaughter. At other times, we simply offer one another help.

That is what happened a few days ago when I noticed something special.

It was a gloomy and dark day. Puffy rain clouds loomed overhead. Despite the weather, Bill worked outside. He was busy measuring, cutting and nailing on the new siding. At one point, I was outside with him for a little bit. I helped him as much as I could, and then I got really cold because it had started to rain. My fingers and my toes started to feel numb from the cold, damp soil, and I had become chilled from the wet rainfall. Bill said, “Go inside. It’s too cold.” I told him that he needed to go inside too. He replied with, “No. I’ll be okay. I’ll come in in in a little bit. Go inside Stace.” I decided to go ahead and head back inside the house but with hesitation because I knew he was cold as well and was getting wet. When I got inside, Kim approached me and asked, “Does Dad have his coat on?” I said, “I think so.” I hadn’t actually paid much attention to what he was wearing because when I had initially gone outside it wasn’t raining. I told her that if she went to the patio outback she would be able to see him and would be able to see if he had on his coat or not. Somehow, we both got distracted and continued on about our business. I made a fresh pot of coffee, and Kim tended to her little one.

Not long after, I decided to go back outside and check on Bill. I hadn’t been outside for more than a few minutes when I saw Kim walk up to us with a busy toddler Running along beside her.

She had Bill’s coat in her hand. She reached out to give it to him and said, “Dad, you need to put your coat on. It’s too cold out here. You’re getting wet. You’re going to get sick.” He said he was fine, but he took it from her and put it on. As he put it on, he turned away from us and started to once again work on applying the siding as he had been before Kim gave him his coat. There he was: my man; wet from the rainfall, the kids dad, and the grandkids grandpa working outside on a rainy day trying to fix a house in need of repair and trying to provide a comfortable and safe shelter for his family. And he had his coat on, and he was protected as much as possible from the rain. True family teamwork was alive and well that day. And somehow, I caught a glimpse of it in action. If you were a bird flying over your house, what positive action would you see?

You Are Not Alone

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I imagine that you are reading this blog because you, just like me, have an adult child who lives with mental illness or maybe it appears to you that your adult child may be living with an undiagnosed mental illness. Perhaps you are a relative or a friend who knows someone who has an adult child who lives with mental illness. Maybe you are a professional. Regardless of who you are, I’m glad you are here. To parents of adult children who happen to live with mental illness, you are not alone.

To those walking a similar walk to mine, I can empathize with you.

I am so sorry for any challenges you have faced past and/or present. I know what it is like. If you are not familiar with my story, I encourage you to read the “Welcome” page on Stacy’s Flutterings. You will see that I can empathize with you. I have been there, and I am there now.

How do I know that we walk a similar walk?

The proof is in the numbers. If we just look at how many people are affected by bipolar disorder globally, the numbers are staggering. The World Health Organization notes that about 60 million people worldwide are affected by bipolar affective disorder (World Health Organization [WHO], 2015). Can you imagine the number of people affected by mental illness if we add in all of the other mental illnesses? It is eye opening, isn’t it? And each one of these millions of individuals, living with bipolar disorder, has a parent. I am not saying that the parent is involved in their lives or anything about parenting other than the fact that each person has a parent, biological or not and absent or not. Therefore, parents too are affected.

If we are not alone then why does it feel as if we are?

Over the years, as we have coped with the illness of our loved one, we have felt very alone, and to some degree we are. Of course, no one can live our lives and therefore experience what we experience. In all honesty, there have been times, throughout the years, that I wish others could experience what we experience just so that they can empathize with us, not sympathize, but truly empathize. This is not reality though. The closet we can come to garnering true empathy is to share our story with others living a similar story and to those willing to listen. And this is precisely what I am doing. However, it is not just empathy that I seek (so that we can erase the stigma, prevent suicide and make positive changes to our mental health care system), but I do not want other parents, walking a similar walk, to feel any more alone than I did. If you are one of those parents, when times get tough, and you are feeling isolated, remember that you are not alone. Join me as I continue to share more about our experience. I have so much good news to share with you. When we think we’ve reached the end of the story, it really has only just begun…

This blog post contains an excerpt from Simply 1 Mom’s Thoughts About Coping When an Adult Child Lives With Mental Illness.

References

King, S. A. (2015). Simply 1 Mom’s Thoughts About Coping When an Adult Child Lives With Mental Illness.

World Health Organization. (2015). Mental disorders [Fact Sheet]. Retrieved from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs396/en/

Where’s the village? Parenting Beyond the High School Years When Mental Illness Plays a Role

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I’ve heard over the years, from family and friends, the African proverb that it takes a village to raise a child. I don’t know about you, but I tend to agree. After all, we don’t parent in a vacuum. By the time a child is grown, many people have come and gone from a child’s life. The interesting thing is that once a child is grown, it seems that the village disappears. In America, when a child turns 18 years old, we consider the child to be an adult. With adulthood comes independence; no longer is the same level of parental support and help needed or so the story goes. However, what if the child, now an adult, lives with the continuation of or the recent onset of mental illness? Now what? Where’s the village? Parenting, beyond the high school years, especially when mental illness plays a role, can be challenging. It can seem even more challenging if it looks like the village has left.

Who do parents turn to for information if their child, now grown, lives with mental illness?

We know that children aren’t born with a manual that describes how to raise them. We simply do the best we can with what we have. During our child’s younger years we have doctors, teachers, family and others to reach out to. However, once our child reaches the adulthood milestone, it seems that, as parents, we have nowhere to turn because our child is an “adult.” As an adult they are responsible for making their own decisions, and they legally have the right to do so. What can seem like murky territory can become even murkier.

Despite how murky parenting may seem right now, I have good news!

The village is still here. It just looks a little different. How do I know? In addition to being a wife, I’m a mother as well of three adult children. Two of our children are grown and live on their own. Our middle child, who still lives at home with us currently, happens to live with bipolar disorder. I’ve been where you are at. And I’m there now. I  know what it’s like to raise children, and I can empathize with parents who have an adult child who lives with mental illness.

Where can you go for information?

If you would like more information about how you can support your adult child who lives with mental illness, I have a few ideas to get you started. First, I can’t express enough how much personal therapy has helped me. If you are a parent of an adult child who lives with mental illness, I encourage you to give it a try. At the very least, you may learn coping mechanisms that you can add to your parenting toolbox, and you may learn about local resources that may be of help to you and your child. If you find that you are searching for a therapist, you can try using the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) Therapist Locator. If you live outside of the United States, you could try reaching out to your primary care provider for a referral. Second, the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) provides helpful articles such as the ones noted below:

These are just a few of the articles NAMI offers that I highly encourage you to check out. And this is just the tip of the iceberg regarding information. I’ll be sharing more information and resources as I blog, and you can always go to the Mental Health Resources tab on Stacy’s Flutterings for additional resources.

Even though it may seem that the village vanishes when our children grow older, especially if we happen to have a child or children who live with mental illness, there are people and organizations ready to help. We just need to know where to look.

This blog post contains an excerpt from Simply 1 Mom’s Thoughts About Coping When an Adult Child Lives With Mental Illness.

References

King, S. A. (2015). Simply 1 Mom’s Thoughts About Coping When an Adult Child Lives With Mental Illness.