No one is to blame Typically, parents, relatives and friends of people with mental illness blame themselves. Mental illness occurs because of many factors working together, including genetic inheritence, family environment, cultural background, life stresses and events, and importantly, physical illness. Some forms of mental illness are caused by chemical imbalances in the brain - not by bad parenting. Many people experience only one episode of mental illness in their lives and afterwards suffer no lasting ill effects. Others may have episodes recurring at intervals throughout their lives.
Some people live with chronic mental illness.
All cases are different. Talk to your doctor about what you can expect in the future. What to do Accept that dealing with mental illness is a strain on everyone in the family, but especially you as the carer. Many carers feel fear, anger, bewilderment, despair, grief or even shame. This is not unusual, and it does not mean that you, too, are becoming mentally ill.