The Parents Saying No To Keeping Mum

Many parents fear passing mental illness on to their children. But being open about mental health could actually improve your parenting…

- Fiona Thomas

“THAT WAS THE MAIN DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ME AND MY DAD” says Jon, a 41-year-old business-owner from London, “I had access to talking therapy and he didn’t.”

As a teenage boy in the early Nineties, Jon watched in frustration as his dad lay on the sofa watching TV day after day. His father had once run his own company but after the recession hit he had no choice but to close the business, something which would lead to his subsequent depression. The family didn’t know how to talk about the problem and silently hoped that things would improve on their own, but after multiple attempts, he unfortunately took his own life in 1995. Jon was just 17 years old at the time.

Only a few years later, Jon had a psychotic episode of his own. He was diagnosed with depression and eventually attempted suicide, but just as history threatened to repeat itself Jon checked into The Priory where he received therapy which ultimately saved him.

Jon has now made it his mission to break the cycle and talk openly about mental illness to his friends, in the workplace and also to his two children. He started putting photographs of his late father in prominent places around his home— in stark contrast to his direct family who has always avoided talking about suicide—in the hope that one day, his children will want to know more about the man in the photographs. “When I was growing up, the vocabulary that I had to express my emotions was very limited. I didn’t have the language” says Jon. Now he encourages his young children to watch TV shows and read books which subtly educate them on topics around negative emotions, something that he hopes will make them healthier in the long run.