The Wire

The relationship between mother and daughter is not always smooth-sailing, but what happens when a mother is suffering from a mental illness? It’s not uncommon, says University of Western Sydney education lecturer, Dr Catherine Camden Pratt, who has been through the experience and undertook years of research with other women sharing similar stories. She’s written a book about the subject, with the aim to let people know what it is really like. Titled Out of the Shadows, the book frequently refers to the mothers as being mad. Dr Camden-Pratt explains what this word evokes for her.