My sibling's mental illness: An interpretative phenomenological analysis of experiences of having an adult sibling with a mental illness in semi-rural South Africa.

Lisa Saville Young,Raylene Flannigan

doi:10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v27i0.1585

Lisa Saville Young, Raylene Flannigan

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/sajpsychiatry.v27i0.1585

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Abstract

BackgroundWhen there is a lack of resources in the community to support deinstitutionalisation, the siblings of an individual with a mental illness are the ones who are the most affected and vulnerable. Nevertheless, sibling care work is still largely unacknowledged in the mental health sector in low- and middle-income countries.AimThis article describes and interprets the lived experiences of ‘black’ isiXhosa-speaking individuals having a sibling with a mental illness, to shed light on how mental health professionals might support and sustain the involvement of individuals in the treatment and care of their sibling.SettingThe study was conducted in a semi-rural town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa.MethodsThe study employed a qualitative research design using interpretative phenomenological analysis as the research method. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analysed.ResultsThe findings present interview extracts which give voice to participants’ experiences of financial burden, social burden and stigma, and of engaging with psychiatric treatment while providing care for their mentally ill sibling. Findings also highlight the positive aspects of caring for a sibling with a mental illness.ConclusionThis study specifically highlights the gendered nature of care work and siblings’ increased understanding of mental illness by virtue of their relationship with their brother or sister, thereby possibly pointing to sibling relationships as valuable relational resources for challenging stigma. The study findings suggest that calls for greater cooperation between healing belief systems should include dialogue with western religious belief systems alongside traditional healing belief systems.

Highlights

When there is a lack of resources in the community to support deinstitutionalisation, the siblings of an individual with a mental illness are the ones who are the most affected and vulnerable
Several themes emerged from the data, which are presented as follows: (1) experiencing the sibling as a burden postdiagnosis, (2) positive experiences emerging from the sibling’s mental illness and (3) experiences of the sibling’s treatment and the mental health system
A common and dominant experience amongst participants was the significant financial strain faced by the participants having a sibling with a mental illness

Summary

Introduction

When there is a lack of resources in the community to support deinstitutionalisation, the siblings of an individual with a mental illness are the ones who are the most affected and vulnerable. Sibling care work is still largely unacknowledged in the mental health sector in low- and middle-income countries. The purpose of this article is to describe the experiences of ‘black’[1] isiXhosa2-speaking individuals in a semi-rural town in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, who have adult siblings with a serious mental illness, with a view to guide mental healthcare professionals to develop programmes and interventions for low- and middle-income (LAMI) countries, which support and sustain the involvement of individuals in the treatment and care of their sibling with a mental illness. While it predominantly refers to a language grouping, it is considered a cultural grouping denoted by particular Xhosa rituals and customs

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