Anyone have experience of poor mental health going against them in custody case?

[purpledaze24]

I have been separated from my ex for over a year. We share our 4-year-old DS 50/50 but have no legal parenting agreement in place. We’ve been civil up until now but things have got difficult recently and I’m worried we will end up in court because we can’t agree on a number of things.

My question is: I have a long history of depression and have been diagnosed with BPD. It’s only ever been managed by the GP up until now but i’ve just been offered an appointment with the mental health team. I would like to take up the offer as any support I can get I would be grateful for, but I’m worried that if my condition starts being managed by a mental health team this could go against me in court. Would the court ask to see my medical records? If so do I have to comply and will my history and/or MH team involvement make it more likely they’d give primary custody to my ex? Should I not get the MH team involved for this reason?

Thanks for any advice :)

It will only go against you if you don’t take your medication, or refuse any help recommended. If you are complying it will be seen as a positive thing .

Absolutely don't avoid treatment/help because you're worried about court. Yes if the court thinks it's relevant they can order your medical records but the other party would have to have good reason to argue that your MH is impacting on your child and your parenting. It's far less likely to do that if you're getting proper treatment.
50/50 is a good status quo to have, unless there is a very good reason the courts aren't likely to disrupt that.

Thank you for your advice :) so if my ex was to take me to court asking to have DS more often and used my mental health as a reason it wouldn’t look like I was a less capable parent if I was under the care of a mental health team? I see that being seen to engage with services is good but wouldn’t a parent that is under the care of a mental health team be a red flag for a judge regarding me being a fit parent? (I know I am but I can see how it wouldn’t look that way to a judge)