An article in Forbes.com states the obvious and it's good that this is being studied. Parents - take care of yourselves! When my kids were growing up, I was a single working mom suffering from major depression/bipolar disorder. The battle seemed endless, and the fight went on day after day, medication after medication. After seeing what my mom went through when I was a kid, I was determined to do everything my doctor told me. Finally, it paid off but our life was affected - how can it not be? The highest priority as a parent is to take care of yourself; take care of your marriage; and take care of your kids. An unhealthy parent and/or unhealthy marriage can't set the stage for healthy kids. At times, it seems the right thing to do - put the kids first - before your mental health - instead of your marriage, but unhappy people make poor parents and provide poor examples of how to function in life.
For families dealing with depression, a book I highly recommend is Talking to Depression: Simple Ways to Connect When Someone in Your Life is Depressed.
If your child is suffering from depression, my favorite resource is Lonely, Sad and Angry.
A website that points to all others and has a great online community is Bipolar World.
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