How many red flags on mental health do we need?

By Louise Kinross

Very high stress levels in 17 per cent of Canadians who care for a child or adult with a health condition or disability was flagged as a significant concern in a report on mental health indicators by the Mental Health Commission of Canada (see page 8) yesterday.

There isn't anything new or surprising about this. In fact, I'm surprised that the number is so low.

There's more than a decade of research showing parents of kids with disabilities have higher rates of stress and depression than parents raising typical kids, as well as poorer physical health (See the bottom of page 4 of this 2013 Australian report for a review on the mental health studies). One study found the level of chronic stress experienced by mothers of youth and adults with autism mirrors that seen in combat soldiers.

The worry is felt by siblings, too. A 2014 study in Pediatrics found that siblings of children with disabilities were almost three times more likely to have parent-reported emotional and behavioural problems. "Growing up with a child with a disability is a risk factor for mental-health issues," lead investigator Dr. Anthony Goudie told BLOOM.

When a group of Australian researchers were trying to come up with a practical resource to support mental wellbeing in parents of kids with disabilities, they could only find one document online targeted to this population.

They've since released Wellbeing for Parents and Carers, a resource for parents caring for children and adults with disabilities. It was put together based on interviews with parents.

They identify these ways to help promote mental wellbeing:

Practise self-care.
Ask yourself 'How am I doing?'
Ask for help.
Try not to be too hard on yourself.
Recognize your achievements.
Plan time for yourself.
Take a break from caring.
Build supportive relationships.
Talk about how you feel.

I know some of these strategies will sound impossible to our readers, especially "practise self-care, plan time for yourself and take a break from caring."

"Ask for help" is also a really tough one, because as parents of kids with disabilities we don't want to create the perception that what we do is hard (lest people interpret that to mean we love our kids any less, or that our kids somehow "are less").

I'm tired of reading study after study, year after year, about how parents like us are at risk. We have ENOUGH evidence. In addition to the scientific studies, there are regular news stories about parents who reach breaking point.

The report on Canadian mental-health indicators notes that "caregivers are an invaluable asset to formal health care and social service systems in supporting individuals with physical and/or mental health conditions."

They got that right.

So why isn't there more action on giving parents the respite and supports they need to better take care of themselves? So that they don't become mentally or physically ill?

I know a number of families whose children require the level of care received in an ICU at home. Yet they receive a weekly allotment of nursing care that gives them about six hours a night. Do most of us cope well on six hours of sleep a night?

When I saw the news story about high stress in Canadian caregivers being flagged as a mental-health concern I felt a rush of excitement. But then I looked back over the years and years of studies related to parenting kids with disabilities. I remember reporting on one of them by our then chief of medical staff back in 2005. And I don't expect any change.