I'm worried my family's secret mental health issues have passed down to my son

DEAR DEIDRE: I’VE been living with a lie. I never told my kids that their grandad took his own life when I was young.

Now my son has mental health issues, I’m terrified.

I’m a married woman of 45 and my husband knows the deepest secret about my father, but I was never allowed to mention it at home.

My family talks about my dad’s “heart condition” if asked, and then changes the subject.

I discovered the truth when I was looking for my passport at 15 and stumbled upon my father’s death certificate.

My son is 26 and he’s had depression and anxiety. He’s not been well since he was 17, but things have got progressively worse.

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He’s now in therapy and came home last night asking whether there was any family history of mental illness.

I didn’t know what to say. My sister, who is 50, suffered from depression when she was in her 20s.

I had post-natal depression, but my son doesn’t know. If I tell him the truth, I’ll feel so guilty. I already feel so ashamed of my family history.

I'm worried my family's secret mental health issues have passed down to my son | The Sun