Social media is awash with stories of adult children who have gone ‘no contact’ with their parents. What’s causing this distressing trend, and how can such heartbreaking family rifts be mended?

Animal magic and a camera changed everything for my girl Paula McDonald, 39, Ardrossan, North Ayrshire

Do you remember that park you used to take me to as a kid, the one with the red, boat-shaped climbing frame? It wasn’t too far from our home in Hull where we lived. You’d often sit on a bench chatting

Shannon’s sister had finally left her abusive husband. So why couldn’t she shake a horrid feeling…

My own mum despised me from the moment I was born

Dressed in a nautical striped top, dungarees, Converse shoes and a daisy chain in my hair, I swung my arm around my little sis Aimee, then eight, and grinned up at the handheld camera. ‘Cheese,’ Aimee