The experience of being an adolescent child of a parent who has a mood disorder.

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of adolescent children living with a parent who has a mood disorder. Three female adolescents each participated in two unstructured, tape-recorded interviews. Interviews were analysed using the Giorgi (1985) method. Three themes emerged. First, participants experienced a serious disruption in family life due to the unavailability of the ill parent, which evoked feelings of an intense sense of responsibility, fear and loss. This disruption led to the adolescent taking on parental roles and tasks. Second, participants perceived themselves to lack knowledge and understanding, leading to frustration and fears that their parents may not get better, and that they themselves may become ill like their parents. They sought information in order to better adjust to and understand the illness. Third, participants struggled to come to terms with the burden of having a psychiatrically ill parent. The effort of trying to cope and make sense of the experience involved a variety of cognitive and affective responses. Implications for nursing practice and research are discussed.