| Mother-daughter relationships hold critical significance as they affect the daughter's development and carry intergenerational impact. This is no less the case for the daughter of a mother with mental illness. This qualitative study captured the experience of 12 such daughters, aged 41 to 73 years. Their experience spanned an era when psychotropic medications and treatments were first introduced. The integration of these methods into the current treatment paradigm has been inconsistent, and the effect on the daughter undervalued. This study recognized the daughters' experience as well as society's profound lack of acknowledgment of their strengths and vulnerabilities.;The daughters described the interaction of complex environmental, genetic, and family relationship processes that stretched the families' emotional and concrete resources. The inconsistent presentation of the emotionally expressive mothers contributed to the daughters' chaotic childhood. They felt the inconsistency acutely as they became more independent and socialized at school—understanding better that their experiences differed from the normative. They experienced increased parental marital conflict, family secrecy, and other stress—from abuse and periods of maternal abandonment. Likewise, maternal disruptive behaviors triggered cut-offs from extended family and constricted community support. Isolated not only from peers and the community but also within their own families, the daughters felt invisible. Their developmental craving for recognition was ignored, and their basic needs were neglected. The daughters' interviews yielded four common themes: A Tumultuous Childhood; The Interplay of Illness and Relationship; Grabbing Life; and Me Now, Feelings about My Relationships.;Affected by this inconsistent attachment, the study daughters organized their lives to gain an experience different from their childhood. Two patterns emerged: (a) the daughters felt personally estranged by their mothers' behaviors and, as adults, became more driven, sensitive, and caregiving—either as mothers and/or in caring professions—and (b) as the daughters matured, they reached out for wider community interaction and connections—in some ways supporting and other ways inhibiting their growth. These patterns evidenced Bronfenbrenner's bioecological systems theory. Although the daughters reported specific connections with their mothers, the major finding of this study was that the daughters did not perceive the existence of a mother-daughter relationship. |
