“CRYING ALONE WITH MY CHILD:” PARENTING A SCHOOL AGE CHILD DIAGNOSED WITH BIPOLAR DISORDER

Abstract

Recent years have seen a rise in the number of children diagnosed at an early age with bipolar disorder and evidence is increasing that parents are performing most of the caregiving and illness management. This existential phenomenological study describes the personal experience of the parents whose children, age 6–11 years, are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. The thematic structure that emerged revealed that the parents in this study, strong advocates for their children, were experiencing unrelenting fear, frustration, loneliness, and hurt. The considerable health implications, affecting both the parent and the child, of lack of respite, loss of self, asynchrony, and chronic fear are discussed. Based on the findings of this study, the psychiatric nurse is in an ideal position to increase interventions that are supportive of parents.