Can I Catch It like a Cold? A story to help children understand a parent's depression

Centre for Addiction and Mental Health; illustrated by Coral Nault 2002.

Children living with a parent dealing with substance use and/or mental health problems often have important and unanswered questions:

• Why does my mom or dad act the way she or he does?
• Will mom or dad get better?
• Why is my family so different?
• Is it my fault?
• Will it happen to me?

CAMH's storybooks for children are engaging, clinically grounded educational resources - the first of their kind to be published in Canada. They offer a starting point for a discussion about problems in the family. The storylines and the illustrations reflect ethnocultural diversity, making these books highly accessible and relevant to a broad range of children.

Can I Catch It Like a Cold? tells the story of Alex and his struggle to understand his father's problem with depression.

In this book, Alex can't understand why his father sits at home alone crying, instead of coming out to watch him play his soccer game. Alex soon discovers that his father has depression.

Alex learns what causes depression, what treatments are available and how he can cope and live well while his father is ill. He also learns that it's not his fault that his father has depression -- and no, depression is not something you can catch, like a cold.

This is the first book of its kind to be published in Canada. It launches a new series of books from CAMH for children coping with addiction and mental health-related issues.

This book will be helpful for:

• children aged five to nine years
• parents and other family members
• teachers and school counsellors and librarians
• mental health professionals.

Book Covers and Sample Pages

Front cover	Sample Page 1	Sample Page 2	Back cover

Read some reviews of Can I Catch It like a Cold?:

• CM Magazine: Canadian Review of Materials
• Flushed, an e-zine published by Sheena's Place

Can I Catch It like a Cold? has been awarded Curriculum Services Canada's CSC Seal, recommending it as a reference for teachers and other school professionals who work with children and youth.

Ordering Information

• full colour illustrations • ISBN 0-88868-416-9
• 22 pages • paperback • $9.95
• published 2002 • product code P5596

Download a PDF version of the order form for this and other Children's Storybooks.

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