Mental Illness In Families Research Articles

Maternal Insanity in the Family: Memories, Family Secrets, and the Mental Health Archive

This work investigates my family’s long-held secrets that concealed the whereabouts of my grandmother. After years of estrangement, my father discovered Ada living in a mental hospital. Memories are rarely straightforward and could only take us so far in understanding why Ada remained missing from our family for so long. My search for answers involved genealogical research and led me to access Ada’s mental patient files. This rich data source provided some troubling glimpses into Ada’s auditory hallucinations and grandiose delusions and her encounters with several mental institutions in Victoria, Australia, during the twentieth century. Critical family history approaches allow me to gain insights into the gendered power relations within her marriage and the power imbalance within families. The theme of migration is addressed through the lens of mobility when Ada relocated following her marriage and her movement between home on trial leave and several sites of care after her committal. Scholars have shown that the themes of migration and mobility are important and hold personal significance in exploring the connection between mental health and institutionalisation for our family. Here, I demonstrate how mental illness in families is stigmatised and concealed through institutionalisation and its legacy for younger generations.

Karl Grassmann's 1896 paper "critical overview of contemporary theories of the heredity of the psychoses".

Four years before the rediscovery of Mendel's work in 1900, Karl Grassmann published a detailed, scholarly review of the heredity of psychosis which we here review. A full translation is in the appendix. We emphasize seven major conclusions from this review. First, while recognizing the key importance of heredity in the etiology of psychosis. Grassmann was critical of many of the highly speculative extant theories. Second, he reviewed most of the major methodologic concerns in the literature from what kinds of heredity to investigate to the problems with the global use of insanity as a diagnostic category. Third, he discussed in detail genetic theories associated with Degeneration theory, maintaining considerable skepticism. Fourth, he recognized nongenetic contribution to familial transmission. Fifth, he reviewed evidence for both homogeneous and heterogeneous transmission of forms of mental illness in families, suggesting that both were important. Sixth, while he noted that mania, melancholia, and cyclothymia commonly replaced each other in families, Verrücktheit (delusional psychoses) rarely co-segregated in families with these mood disorders. Seventh, Grassmann, like other 19th century writers, saw relatives to be of value only in assessing the level of hereditary predisposition in patients and had limited appreciation of the need for controlled studies.

Somatik belirtilerin sosyodemografik ve klinik özellikler ile ilişkisi

Objevtive: Somatization is a psychiatric condition characterized by recurring somatic symptoms that cannot be fully explained by the general medical condition of the individual and are not attributable to another mental disorder. There are physical, psychological and social factors that affect somatic symptoms of individuals. The aim of this study is to screen somatic symptoms of patients admitted to our clinic and to investigate the relationship between scanning results and sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of the patients. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 414 participants aged 18-65 years who admitted to the …. between February 2018 and November 2018. Sociodemographic data form and SCL90-R (Symptom Checklist 90-Revised) psychological symptom screening test was applied to the participants through face to face interview method. Results: Of all the participants, 256 (61.8%) were female and 158 (38.2%) were male and the mean age was 33.7±13.6 years. Of all the participants, 47.3% were university graduates or had a higher educational background. The mean score of the somatization subscale of the SCL90-R screening test was 1.0±0.6. The factors increasing the somatic symptoms were female gender, increasing number of children, being an immigrant, decreasing education level, increasing amount of drug use, increasing number of applications to health institutions, and implementation of alternative medicine techniques, presence of mental illness in families and their relatives. Conclusion: In the present study, the prevalence of somatic symptoms was found to be high and clinically significant. In particular, the social position of women in Turkey, their lifestyles, and their specific characteristics such as using body language more are associated with high somatic symptoms. Emotional disability caused by migrations makes individuals be at greater risk in terms of somatization. The personality development that increases with the education level and increased communication skills reduce the risk of somatization. Symptoms of patients who frequently use health care and treatment options and apply alternative medicine are more significant in terms of somatization.

A child’s perspective of bidirectional impacts of mental illness in families: “It’s like a cold it goes from one of us to the next”

Objective: Investigations into the influence of mental illness in families concentrates on how a parent’s mental illness has an effect on their child, but we now know over two thirds of children with a mental health issue also have a parent with a mental illness. This study examines experiences of these children.Methods: Thirty-eight children were interviewed, including two sibling groups. Interview transcripts were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis with a number of themes identified.Results: It was clear from children’s accounts that family life presents some unique challenges because of co-existing mental illness. These included social challenges; school issues; and family interactions. Children also postulated ideas on the support that they considered helpful for comparable children and families. The latter included coping strategies, experiences of professionals and support that they would have liked.Conclusions: The voices of these children indicate that interventions should not be considered in isolation and that it is important to focus on bidirectional influences of mental illness. Understanding the perceptions and interpreted realities of children in these families will facilitate more successful outcomes for the whole family. Providing a family-focused, bidirectional approach, is an important initial phase in helping children manage where mental illness is a ubiquitous feature for multiple family members.

A parent’s perspective of the bidirectional impact of mental illness in families

Objective: Recent research has found over 70% of children attending a mental health service also have a parent with a mental illness. Research on the impact of mental illness in families focuses primarily on how parental mental illness impacts on children. What is not understood is the experience of parents and children where both have a mental illness. The aim of this study was to investigate the experiences of parents where both a child and a parent have a mental illness.Methods: Thirty-seven parents were interviewed using a narrative design to determine their personal and family experiences. Interviews were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis with a number of themes highlighted.Results: Themes particular to this family type were: impact of parental mental illness; specific strategies; bidirectional impacts of mental illness; and intergenerational factors. Also raised were supports parents would have liked. From the narrative of these parents the challenges of families, where both a parent and a child have a mental illness, are highlighted.Conclusions: It is from these interviews, that awareness of clinicians can be raised, and more effective, well-thought-out interventions put in place. Interventions that take account of the bidirectional influences of mental illness will be more successful in meeting the needs of all members of a family. People do not operate in isolation and providing a family focused approach is an essential first step in helping people manage where mental illness is a prevalent factor for different family members.

The Effects of Group Psychoeducational Programme on Attitude toward Mental Illness in Families of Patients with Schizophrenia, 2014.

Family members often play a vital role as caregivers in the lives of individuals with schizophrenia. RESULTS of the studies showed that family invironment is the most important determinint of patients outcomes like as quality of life, relapse, adherence. This study aimed to determine the effect of group psychoeducational programme on attitude towards mental illness in families of patients with schizophrenia. In this quasi-experimental study, 74 families who have schizophrenic patients hospitalized in psychiatric wards during sampling were selected by convenience sampling method. Then the sample was randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The families of experimental group received 8 continuous 90-minute 3 times a week psychoeducational sessions. Family attitude towards mental illness was measured using the questionnaire of Opinion about Mental Illnesses (OMI) before and after intervention. Data analysis was conducted using χ(2) test, independent t-test, and paired t-test on SPSS software version 13. The results showed that majority of the families had negative attitude towards mental illness (88.90%). In addition, the results showed that there was significant difference between different dimensions of attitude towards mental illness before and after psychoeducation in the experimental group. The mean score of families' post-test in the experimental group increased compared to control group 108.86 (14.9), vs. 88.86 (7.5). The results of this study indicate that psychoeducation improves family attitude towards mental illness. Training methods like group psych education for the families of mental patients can be effective on their attitudes towards mental illness.

Pathways of Care: targeting the early childhood sector for early intervention

While many people with a mental illness care for young children, there is a paucity of resources for these families and the professionals working with them. The purpose of this paper is to describe a new online resource, Pathways of Care, specifically designed for parents with a mental illness, early childhood educators, and mental health workers, and report on a pilot evaluation of the resource. Using a mixed method design, the effectiveness of the online resource in effecting worker confidence, knowledge and family-focused practice change will be examined. Pathways of Care aims to promote collaborative practice between agencies, identify relevant agencies and support workers in talking to parents about mental illness in families. Fifteen workers completed the Family Focus Mental Health Practice Questionnaire pre- and post-viewing the resource, to measure confidence and practice change; semi-structured interviews were then conducted with eight of these same workers to further explore the utility of the resource. Findings tentatively indicate that the resource was effective in increasing worker knowledge and confidence. This study highlights the importance of the development and provision of resources, such as the Pathways of Care, to promote collaboration between service providers in the early childhood and mental health sectors working with families with young children.

Building community as social action: An art therapy group with adolescent males

One way to facilitate social change as an art therapist is within the context of group art therapy, utilizing the group as a social microcosm for the world at large. The overarching goal is to engage the group in meaningful and prosocial experience that mirrors community experiences many clients have lacked. For a group of adolescent males who had suffered the effects of some of our worst social problems—rampant community and domestic violence, racial and ethnic conflict, child abuse and neglect, parental substance abuse and criminality, poverty, and untreated mental illness in families—this task is complex. The impact of disrupted attachment and complex trauma is discussed, and implications are presented for connecting with traumatized youth through witnessing their creative work. The therapeutic relationship and the art media used are discussed in relation to multicultural issues, the specific psycho-social problems experienced by the individual group members, and the capacity of this group to engage in the construction and ultimate articulation of its own community in a visual manner. The product of this group art therapy experience is exhibited in a mixed-construction miniature city that was built over a period of 9 weeks.

Initiating communication about parental mental illness in families: An issue of confidence and security

Beardslee's family intervention (FI) is a family-based intervention to prevent psychiatric problems for children of mentally ill parents. The parents' experiences are of importance in family-based interventions. Twenty five parents were interviewed about their experiences of FI. Data were analysed by qualitative methods. Confidence and security in the professionals and in FI as a method were prerequisites for initiating communication about the parents' mental illness with the children. FI provides a solid base for an alliance with the parents and might be a practicable method when parenthood and children are discussed with psychiatric patients.

An Exploration of Attitudes Among Black Americans Towards Psychiatric Genetic Research

With increasing emphasis on understanding genetic contribution to disease, inclusion of all racial and ethnic groups in molecular genetic research is necessary to ensure parity in distribution of research benefits. Blacks are underrepresented in large-scale genetic studies of psychiatric disorders. In an effort to understand the reasons for the underrepresentation, this study explored black participants' attitudes towards genetic research of psychiatric disorders. Twenty-six adults, the majority of whom were black (n = 18) were recruited from a New York City community to participate in six 90-minute focus groups. This paper reports findings about respondents' understanding of genetics and genetic research, and opinions about psychiatric genetic research. Primary themes revealed participants' perceived lack of knowledge about genetics, concerns about potentially harmful study procedures, and confidentiality surrounding mental illness in families. Participation incentives included provision of treatment or related service, monetary compensation, and reporting of results to participants. These findings suggest that recruitment of subjects into genetic studies should directly address procedures, privacy, benefits and follow-up with results. Further, there is critical need to engage communities with education about genetics and mental illness, and provide opportunities for continued discussion about concerns related to genetic research.

Joseph Schorstein: R. D. Laing's `rabbi'

The Scottish psychiatrist R. D. Laing (1929-88) was one of the most influential but also one of the most controversial figures in twentieth-century psychiatry as he explored the boundaries in schizophrenia and serious mental illness in families. Joseph Schorstein (1909-76) was born in Moravia, graduated in medicine in Vienna, specialized in neurosurgery and eventually settled in Glasgow following wartime army service. Laing acknowledged the role of Schorstein as his 'spiritual mentor' and guide to the European intellectual world. This paper looks at the relationship between these two very different men and examines the career of Schorstein and the influence of his cultural background in Central Europe in shaping aspects of medical thought and culture in Glasgow.

The NAMI Consumer Survey Analysis of Unmet Needs

Mental health consumers increasingly are insisting that their views of their unmet needs be given greater attention in the provision of services. To better understand what those needs are, the authors surveyed persons with mental illness in families associated with the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI).

Impact of mental illness in families of mental health professionals.

Family burden and coping strategies were investigated in 84 experienced mental health professionals with family members suffering from chronic major mental illnesses. The sample was nationally recruited from ads in professional journals. Personal reactions of respondents involved cognitive and attitudinal changes in conceptions of psychotic disorders and guarded relations with colleagues with respect to self-disclosure and case involvement. Financial and emotional burdens were substantial, with ongoing stressful life events, aversive patient behaviors, and poor treatment histories. In rating family coping strategies, mental health professionals showed a high degree of concordance with nonprofessional family members in assigning priority to education on symptoms, medications, and patient management techniques. Involvement with self-help groups and physical separation from patients were rated higher than individual or family therapy as aids in coping for families of the mentally ill.