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Molly sectioned both her parents under the Mental Health Act …

Molly was about 10 years old when her mother, who had recently divorced Molly’s alcoholic father, became mentally ill, "I didn’t recognise it as mental illness at the time," says Molly "My mother changed considerably. She was quite aggressive, didn’t sleep and constantly played the radio and television at the same time, writing poetry, entering competitions, and generally a bit manic."

In order to be sectioned, a health professional has to recognise that there is a problem with the person concerned. For a year or so before her mother was sectioned, Molly and her brother and sister were on the Social Services ‘at risk’ register. "We had a social worker who visited us every week, but looking back at the things that went on over that year, I’m a bit surprised that nothing was done sooner. We used to live the whole week on bread. The food we used to get was at school." Eventually, through the intervention of the police, Molly’s mother was detained in hospital for two months, during which time, the children were sent to stay with their father.

Since that first admission, others have followed - sometimes informally. It is a difficult area for any relationship, and particularly so for a child sectioning their own parent. "At some points she’s had some insight, but even now when she’s relatively well, she’ll look back on things that happened and her perspective is quite distorted. She holds it against me in particular because I work in the mental health services. She looks back and thinks she wasn’t ill and I’m held responsible for having her taken away."

As an alcoholic, Molly’s father also had problems, although until 1984, the year Molly began her mental health training, these had been more or less confined to run-ins with the police, and disruptive behaviour. "I remember going to visit him, and he was very strange. He thought he’d been to the moon and come back, and he didn’t seem to quite recognise me. He was clearly confused." Molly has also had to section her father. "He’s had episodes every 4 years or so where he had epileptic fits, and it’s always the post-fit confusion for about 6 to 8 weeks when his behaviour becomes very strange - extremely aggressive, and quite dangerous, and gets obsessed by particular ideas. He could at that point, cause harm to other people." Like her mother, Molly’s father is sometimes hostile towards his daughter for sectioning him, "He certainly looks back and thinks he's never had any mental health problems and that I'm to blame for his admissions."

Molly's father is currently serving a prison sentence. 4 years ago, after a severe and prolonged psychotic episode, Molly eventually had her father sectioned again. He was subsequently discharged. Molly was not informed until after the event. Within 48 hours, Molly's father had stolen a car, knocked down and killed a person. Whilst in prison, he began to have fits and was moved to hospital. Molly says, "I wish I hadn't allowed him to go into care - I did it to protect the public and felt that it was the place that could contain him best. With hindsight it clearly wasn't. I felt so responsible and so upset about the whole thing."

It was an unhappy time for Molly, but she managed to get through it, "I think because we had such a difficult childhood, I've learned to cope with most things. My brother and sister and I have spent a lifetime parenting our parents. We haven't depended upon anyone else. They haven't been the most brilliant parents, but I'd move the world for either of them."

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