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The experience of living with and caring for a family member with a mental illness: It always means something
Abstract
Using concepts from symbolic interactionism, dramaturgical interviewing and transcultural nursing, this dissertation analyses the processes and human agency, strategies and interventions, in the experience of living with and caring for a severely and persistently mentally ill family member. The discussion and analysis advanced in this study are based on data derived from twenty-six semi-structured interviews conducted with family members, respondents, of severely and persistently mentally ill individuals. All respondents had been past participants in psycho-educational/support group seminars that focused on learning about and living with serious and persistent mental illness. Data derived from this approach are used to explore the phases experienced as respondents cared for a family member with a severe and persistent mental illness. The following six phases were identified: (1) Cycle of awareness, (2) Crisis, (3) Cycle of Instability and Recurrent Crisis, (4) Movement toward Stability, (5) Continuum of Stability, and (6) Growth and Advocacy. Primary themes identified included (1) developing awareness and understanding of illnesses, (2) managing relationships with mental health care providers, (3) dealing with various aspects of stigma, and (4) development of respondent and consumer coping mechanisms. Additional areas of interest evident through analysis of data were (1) the impact of new technology on the process of mental illness, (2) evidence of a type of stigma, tentatively identified as institutional, demonstrated in the policies and procedures of insurance companies, and (3) the strength and functional abilities demonstrated by respondents in their struggles to cope with the consequences of a family member's mental illness. The study also offers some suggestions for future research.
Subject Area
Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Mental health|Nursing
Recommended Citation
Muhlbauer, Susan Ann, "The experience of living with and caring for a family member with a mental illness: It always means something" (1999). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9929216.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9929216