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Disruption of children's lives by maternal psychiatric admission

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Valerie Hawes*
Affiliation:
Forensic Psychiatry Service, Box 175, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Hills Road, Cambridge CB2 2QQ
David Cottrell
Affiliation:
Academic Unit of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, School of Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds
*
Correspondence
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Abstract

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Aims and method

The aim of the study was to investigate changes in child care arrangements after admission of mothers to acute psychiatric wards. Data were collected by interview where possible and from case notes.

Results

Twelve out of 63 children of mothers interviewed had to move house. Chronicity of psychiatric disorder was evident in half the mothers.

Clinical implications

Children's lives are affected by maternal psychiatric admission with the likelihood of repeated disruption where psychiatric disorder is chronic.

Type
Original papers
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © 1999 The Royal College of Psychiatrists

References

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