How Mental Illness Affects Families
A Word
This article is dedicated to any family member who has been negatively affected by my behavior. My behavior at its worst oftentimes includes verbal attacks, emotional abuse, bullying, and harassment to name a few. While I’m not proud of my behavior and am doing my best to make amends, I take full responsibility for it and will never use mental illness as an excuse. Although I may never know the full extent of how this has impacted specific family members, I try to see things from their perspective.
One thing that’s for sure is that mental illness is confusing and frustrating for both the person suffering and those who love them. As the subject of mental health continues to grow in popularity, it
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It is significant, and it cannot and should not be ignored or swept under the rug. How mental illness affects families varies, for families differ. And different family members respond in different ways. Our familial roles tend to dictate how we react, how we might fight back, and how we learn to cope.
Parents
According to Our Healthy Minds, for the parents of a mentally ill child (whether that child is a minor or an adult); parents can usually be the ones who institute the process of finding services and assistance for their child. And at times parents may need to cope with a mental health care system that can be reluctant to acknowledge their part in their offspring’s recovery process.
Although, according to research, the family is not to blame for mental illness, parents in particular might have issues with overcoming guilt. Comprehending that their child truly has an illness (like leukemia or cystic fibrosis) may help to reduce their guilt.
In addition, if there are other children in the family, parents can be concerned about how their other children are coping. The parents may struggle with trying to give their other children attention while, at the same time, managing their mentally ill child’s
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Discuss the topic openly but in a manner that lets them know they are neither abandoned nor helpless. If they are old enough to understand, share longer terms plans for ongoing support. If they are worried they will become mentally ill, or their future children might, there are research materials and websites which cover the statistics of inheriting a mental illness.
• Give them age-appropriate information about the illness. Your local library or school might have appropriate reading materials. Library staff in particular may be able to recommend appropriate reading material. This helps younger children to understand they are not alone.
• Make time for them. They need to feel safe and secure, and that they matter. They need to know that the family is not just about the illness. You can discuss the issue during these outings, or not.
• Give them a safety network. This includes contact information for trusted adults they can contact if they need help. Give them clear instructions of what to do in case of an emergency. Being prepared will help them understand you have considered the eventuality. Explain the sorts of emergencies that could come up and make it clear that their own welfare and safety come
From reading and reflecting her personal experience and journey with her sister, Pamela, I acquired a personal outlook of the deteriorating effects of mental illness as a whole, discovering how one individual’s symptoms could significantly impact others such as family and friends. From this new perspective mental health counseling provides a dominate field within not only individuals who may suffer mental illness such as Pamela, but also serve as a breaking point for family and friends who also travel through the illness, such as Carolyn.
Family Psychoeducation for Schizophrenia has previously been supported in treatment recommendations and guidelines for best practise in hospitals. In their review of 15 new studies in the area, Lisa Dixon M.D (University of Maryland), Curtis Adams M.D (University of Maryland) and Alicia Luckstead M.D (University of Maryland) reinforce support for family psychoeducation for schizophrenia.
When a loved one has a mental illness, it can be a challenge for the whole family: parents, siblings, friends and relatives. Coping with a mentally challenged child "is a shared experience for families and can affect all aspects of family functioning" (Reichman, year, pp.). From the movie, the Grape family is not only ...
The stigma and negative associations that go with mental illness have been around as long as mental illness itself has been recognized. As society has advanced, little changes have been made to the deep-rooted ideas that go along with psychological disorders. It is clearly seen throughout history that people with mental illness are discriminated against, cast out of society, and deemed “damaged”. They are unable to escape the stigma that goes along with their illness, and are often left to defend themselves in a world that is not accepting of differences in people. Society needs to realize what it is doing, and how it is affecting these people who are affected with mental illness.
Although medical social workers have always played a role in helping loved ones adjust to significant illness in a family member and in securing needed resources to pay for medical care (Furstenberg & Olson, 1984), a new role for mental health professionals in the care of those afflicted with disease has emerged. D...
Families with a member suffering from any illness may be stressful enough but families with members diagnosed with schizophrenia are often faced with additional challenges such as the “external stressors of social stigma, isolation, and emotional frustration”. Many times, family conflicts arise as members attempt to provide care on an everyday basis (Chien, 2010, pg. xi). “A Beautiful Mind” is a brilliant motion picture directed by Ron Howard that chronicles the life of one John Nash, a prominent mathematician and the challenges he endures throughout his adult life afflicted with a chronic mental illness. “A Beautiful Mind” allows us to gain insight into the stressors that many families undergo when faced with living with a person with schizophrenia. This paper will explore the impact of schizophrenia on the lives of the Nash family as depicted in the aforementioned movie. Exploring the impact of the disease on the Nash family’s life will be followed with a discussion regarding an assessment conducted of the family, through the use of the Calgary Family Assessment model. Conducting the assessment allowed us to determine two nursing priorities, and nursing interventions in relation to them through the use of the Calgary intervention model. Essentially it becomes evident that the challenges faced by the Nash family are in the functional domain. The families inability to effectively communicate and problem solve becomes evident, which is negatively impacting the families ability to function effectively. Our nursing interventions guided by the Calgary Nursing Intervention Model will focus on providing the Nash family with the support needed to bring about change in the affective domain in foster effective communication with the famil...
A lot of the time parents and other family members center their attention on becoming knowledgeable about the the mental illness and look for resources to better help their loved one. Parents and family members may experiences others losses such as relationship or friendship loss or even financial loss as they learn how to help their child to deal with their mental disorder . A diagnosis of a mental disorder can impact the parents in several different ways. Particularly many parents who have a child diagnosed with a mental disorder, stress is a substantial impact for them. For instances, if a child is diagnosed with bipolar disorder, the parents have to learn to to cope with the changes in moods and behaviors such as mood swings or tempers. The stress can put tension on a relationship with other family members like their spouse and their other children. It can also cause you to have problems at work because you are missing work on multiple occasions, as well as cause you to have less alone or self-care time. No matter what the mental disorder
Imagine you are married with children; your child has been acting different lately, so you take them to the doctor. Once there you find out that they have a mental illness. What do you do? Over the years, it has been estimated that around twenty percent of children worldwide are suffering from a form of mental illness such as Bipolar Disorder, Depression, Schizophrenia, and Anxiety Disorders. Ultimately, parents of these children end up struggling with their own psychological, emotional, social, and economic challenges while providing for their child with the mental illness. Raising a child with mental illness can be a challenge, but through increased knowledge and adjusted attitudes parents can be more prepared.
According to the National Alliance of Mental Health, mental illness affects one in five Americans today (2015). A mental illness is defined as a mental, behavioral, or emotional disorder that affects a person’s daily life. The issue today is to understand a parent that suffers from a mental disorder. In United States studies, forty percent of children have parents that have been hospitalized due to mental illness (Lauritzen, 2015). Parents with a mental disorder require special attention to ensure that they are providing their children the proper care. Parents have the extra responsibility of taking care of their children while dealing with their own mental illness. Stigma is associated with mental disorders, which causes the parent or guardian not to seek help for fear of losing their children (Cleary, Deacon, Jackson, & Andrew, 2012).
To begin with, a “Parent and Child Knowledge and Attitudes Toward Mental Illness: A Pilot Study.” is an article about a case study between parents and children who suffer from a mental illness. Each person interprets what a mental illness is in their own way. This article deals with how parents and children
Mental illness stigma is an issue that plagues many members of society. The consequences are not well known by the public and include, but are not limited to; family discord, job discrimination and social rejection (Feldman & Crandall, 2007). The most common stigma is the assumption every mentally ill person is dangerous to themselves and others. There are many conflicting articles both supporting and refuting this claim.
“Mental illness refers to a wide range of mental health conditions — disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior” (Mayo Clinic). Mental disorders can happen many times through one’s life, but mental illness is classified as an ongoing problem with the symptoms that can affect the ability to perform normal day to day tasks (Mayo Clinic). Many people look at those afflicted with mental disorders as being crazy or clinically insane, while the reality is a problem many people live with on a daily basis with help from medications, psychologist visits, family, friends, help groups, and many other support systems. The lack of support available to mentally ill patients, the more that will refuse treatment and refuse to find help for their disorders. Many people who were born with mental disorders grow up knowing they have a problem, but people who develop them later in age don’t understand how to cope with it.
When dealing with an individual that is suffering from a behavioral or mental illness can be challenging, due to the fragile balance within their life. Not only do these members have to deal with the day to day changes of life, they must also deal with the reproductions caused by this instability. Moreover, the stigmas associated in these various contexts can lead to a plethora of problems. As social workers, it is our job to help navigate around these problems and help create success for the lives of our clients.
Why is there a cloud of judgment and misunderstanding still surrounding the subject? People with a mental disorder or with a history of mental health issues are continually ostracized by society. This results in it being more difficult than it already is for the mentally ill to admit their symptoms to others and to seek treatment. To towards understanding mental illness is to finally lift the stigma, and to finally let sufferers feel safe and accepted within today’s society. There are many ways in which the mentally ill are degraded and shamed.
It perpetuates the stigma giving more isolation to the victims of mental illnesses (Davis). Mental illness is a tricky subject to confront with a person. The idea is that mental health is a personal issue which is completely false. The stigma many face not