A new offer is intended to ensure that the children of mentally ill parents do not also become mentally ill themselves.
It is an alarming number: every sixth child in Austria grows up with a mentally ill parent. And when mom or dad suffers, the children suffer too, as they often blame themselves for the misery. “Living together as a family becomes an enormous challenge in such constellations and harbors an increased risk potential for an unfavorable development of children and young people,” says Social Minister Katharina Wiesflecker (Green Party) on the corresponding study results. Unfortunately, children are often left alone in such situations, the negative ones Sometimes they have to bear the consequences for a lifetime. Therefore, the state of Vorarlberg, together with partner institutions, launched the “Hummingbirds, little heroes” project. “Basically, it’s about making the affected children ‘visible’, i.e. improving the perception of children of mentally impaired parents in order to enable the necessary support as early as possible,” explains Health Minister Martina Rüscher (ÖVP). “Hummingbirds, little heroes” should be as accessible as possible, the offer is supported by employees of the social psychiatric services (aks, pro mente V), the institute for social services (regional social counseling centers) and the Caritas addiction counseling. In addition to various consultations, the affected families are also provided with a supervisor who then draws up a support plan for the parents and children. In addition, special group offers for the affected children will be launched in the coming year.
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