Perceived social support: A risk factor for relapse in patients with psychosis-A pilot study report

Abstract

Background and Objectives : Social support has a very important role in maintaining an optimum level of functioning in patients with psychosis. It is very widely believed that inadequate support from families and friends triggers the state of relapse in psychotic patients. This study is undertaken with an objective to determine if perceived social support acts as a risk factor for relapse in psychosis. Materials and Methods : Patients who are diagnosed with psychosis as per ICD-10 criteria have been included. A case control study design has been adopted to investigate the perceived social support among patients with relapse and without relapse. Convenience sampling technique is used to select 30 patients with psychosis, among which 15 subjects were in the relapse group and 15 subjects were in the non-relapse group. Results : The study results showed that, in the relapse group all the subjects (100%) had inadequate social support, where as in the non-relapse group, 80% and 20% of subjects had inadequate and adequate social support respectively. There was no statistically significant association between the perceived social support and the relapse in psychosis. Conclusion : It is evident form the present study that adequate social support especially from friends and family members are of utmost importance to prevent relapse in patients with psychosis. As indicated, almost all the subjects in the relapse group had an inadequate social support, which means that the occurrence of relapse is common in the absence of adequate social support.