Foreword

Summary

The joys of parents are secret, and so are their griefs and fears.

Francis Bacon (1625) Essays. Of Parents and Children.

This thoroughly revised second edition of Parental Psychiatric Disorder, following on so soon upon the heels of the first edition, shows both how important this book has become and how rapidly the field is changing. The first edition broke new ground by presenting a coherent range of contributions across the spectrum from primary research, through policy to clinical practice. The new edition takes the field a measured step further. One measure of the rapid maturation of this area is that discussion of the complex interactions between mentally ill parents and their families is now entering mainstream clinical practice in many countries. Until recently, at least in many adult services, the dominant mental health paradigm focused primarily upon the individual treatment offered by a clinician to a patient. The importance of this paradigm shift, towards seeing unwell parents in relation to their immediate and their wider family contexts, is of fundamental importance.

This more complex perspective necessarily means that many aspects of the conventional treatment approach have to be revised or completely rethought. A family-context perspective means less certainty for staff who will now need to take into account simultaneously many points of view. Such complexities include, for example (as this splendid volume clearly demonstrates) the need to balance the interests of the child and each of the parents.