When I watched the Lifetime Movie "Call Me Crazy" (thanks to the forum's recommendation), I immediately related to the teenage girl who had to manage her mother's mental health, hide what was really going on from her friends, and become the "adult" in the situation when she should have been the child. While my biological mother had the same diagnosis as the mom in the film (bioplar 1), many of the other particulars were somewhat different. On the negative side, my mom was far less functional & never had any periods of "being a mom;" on the positive side, my dad was in the picture (though usually at work or away on business). It still makes me angry when I think of the ways in which I had to be an adult at the age of 11, protect my mom from herself and my little sister, and lose friends throughout jr. & sr. high school because I couldn't explain to them why they couldn't come over or why I couldn't go over to their house. I also remember the time I called the police to try and get some help when my little sister and I were left alone with my mom and she was chasing us with a knife, and instead of getting my mom some help, the police believed her over me (while she was manic) because "she was the adult" and tried to arrest me instead for being a "trouble making teenager." I knew from a very early age that my mom was mentally ill, but my dad refused to tell me what her diagnosis was and would usually deny that she was mentally ill at all. It was only recently (now that I'm 28) that my dad has disclosed her mental health history to me. I've always felt that my dad should have been much more open about this when I was growing up. If he put me in the position of having to be her caretaker when he was at work (from ages 11-18), I should have had the information to understand what was going on. But, at the same time, I don't think I should have had to be put in that position at all or exposed to her manic episodes and spent much of my life afraid and having to constantly put out fires & then lie to outsiders about what was going on. Ideally, I don't think children should have to be burdened with their parents' mental health. While I think Dr. Phil is a bit of a quack, I do agree with his saying that "kids should't have to deal with adult issues"-- that when parents are mentally ill, going through a divorce, battling substance abuse, etc-- that children should be protected from knowing about/hearing about/handling these issues. As I can state from my own experience, it changes who the child is and takes something away from them; it takes away their childhood and their sense of safety in their own home. It was always hard for me to relate to my friends as they were worrying about dating, shopping, gossip, etc-- I had much bigger problems at home to worry about. That makes me wonder though-- is that realistic? Is it realistic to say that children should not be involved in their parents' mental health? Or is it a necessity for the children to know about and be involved in what is going on? In some ways, it seems unfair to make the children involved in something they have no say in, since they can't decide whether their parent takes their meds, sees a T, works on their mental health, abuses substances, and so forth. But, at the same time, the child is probably going to witness manic and depressive episodes, anxiety and panic attacks, and so forth, so shouldn't the child be informed about what they are seeing? I think it's a really hard issue. I've only experienced this from the child's point of view, so I'm rather curious about what it's like from the parent's point of view. Do others have any insight on this?