{"id":39648,"date":"2018-12-15T09:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-12-15T17:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/?p=39648"},"modified":"2018-12-14T09:22:31","modified_gmt":"2018-12-14T17:22:31","slug":"can-mental-health-issues-be-used-against-you-in-a-child-custody-dispute","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/psychology-facts\/can-mental-health-issues-be-used-against-you-in-a-child-custody-dispute-1215187","title":{"rendered":"Can Mental Health Issues Be Used Against You In a Child Custody Dispute?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Child-Custody-divorce.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-39649 size-full aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Child-Custody-divorce.png\" alt=\"Child Custody\" width=\"800\" height=\"2000\" title=\"\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Child-Custody-divorce.png 800w, https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/12\/Child-Custody-divorce-300x750.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<h2>Infographic Text: Can mental health issues be used against you in a child custody dispute?<\/h2>\n<p>Yes, but only if your condition affects your ability to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/parenting\">parent your child<\/a>. \u00c2\u00a0You are more likely to lose custody if your diagnosis has caused you to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/neglect\">Neglect<\/a> your child\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s basic needs.<\/li>\n<li>Have episodes of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/aggression-violence\">aggression<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/self-harm\">self-harm<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Be unable to function independently.<\/li>\n<li>Create an environment that is unsafe for children.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>A diagnosis alone cannot cause you to lose custody of your child. Plenty of adults with mental health issues can be safe and attentive parents. For example, if a parent is managing their bipolar symptoms in therapy and has no history of abusive behavior, then a judge is unlikely to deny them custody.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/find-therapist.html\">Seeking therapy<\/a> for your symptoms will likely help you in a custody case. Getting treatment shows you are taking steps to address any behavioral issues. While therapy won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t guarantee you retain custody after a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/learn-about-therapy\/issues\/divorce\">divorce<\/a>, it can reduce your symptoms and help you be a better parent overall.<\/p>\n<p><strong>References:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Jones, G. (2017, March 9). How mental illness impacts child custody: What you need to know. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.goldbergjones-or.com\/child-custody\/mental-illness-impacts-child-custody<\/li>\n<li>Kvarnstrom, E. (2017, May 2). Mental illness and child custody: The impact of treatment. Retrieved from https:\/\/www.bridgestorecovery.com\/blog\/mental-illness-and-child-custody-the-impact-of-treatment<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A mental health diagnosis like depression can only be used against you in a child custody battle if it has affected your ability to parent a child safely.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[542,623],"tags":[1427,395,51],"class_list":["post-39648","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-featured-articles","category-issues-treated","tag-custody-battle","tag-divorce","tag-healthy-parenting"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39648","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39648"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39648\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39648"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39648"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goodtherapy.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39648"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}