My mum has a lot of health problems and I feel that my parents factually sharing information and discussing things prevented a lot of fear and worry. It normalised what was going on and made everything mundane, in a way. Instead of a troubling mystery her health issues were just part of the landscape of our lives.

'Protecting' children by not telling them anything can backfire horribly. When you live together you can't hide these things, so instead it just turns into unspoken fears and anxiety. I think it's better to demystify the disease and create a dialogue that allows everyone to openly share their thoughts and feelings. Growing up I could talk to anyone matter-of-factly about my mum's health problems (not that I went around telling everyone) and how she handled them. I knew that things ebbed and flowed and that sometimes you had to see the doctors and specialists more often, that sickness could be managed. That was very important to me.

I think it's so important to be open about these things because children will very often analyse themselves and try to figure out what they're doing wrong to cause the problem. That train of thought really has to be circumvented before it can take root.