Kylie
sane.orgThere is a great deal of love in Kylie's family. It is plain to see as she chats with daughters Emma-Leigh and Madeline, the three of them laughing warmly together.The girls also listen attentively as Kylie recounts the tough times she has experienced as a single mother with Schizophrenia.
Their faces beam when she acknowledges how crucial they have been in her recovery.As Kylie tells her story, it becomes clear that her resilience and good parenting have played a big part in Emma-Leigh and Madeline being so mature and well-balanced.Kylie became unwell at a stressful time in her life: a relationship breakdown was followed by the death of her mother and then the birth of her second daughter.
Within six months, Kylie was diagnosed with Schizophrenia.For some years she was unemployed and lived with the girls in sub-standard housing, always lacking for money and battling the effects of her illness.‘The ill-fitting curtains showed my poverty like a banner,’ she says, ‘but I was too ill to care.’These were hard years for Kylie who, in spite of her illness, held the family together. ‘No child protection issues came up with us which is rare for someone as sick as I was,’ she says.Like many children who have a parent with mental illness, Emma-Leigh had learning difficulties at school and was bullied for a time.
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