Vivencias de la familia del enfermo mental

Abstract

Introduction:

It is well known that mental ills are socially stigmatized and judged. This makes their families’ rol difficult because of the rejection, growing frustration and impotence feelings.

Likewise, the family life has been affected by the mandatory change that has been implemented in order to provide attention and good care of the mental ills, which may generate intern conflicts among its members.

Mexico’s transitions like, demography, has increased mental illnesses due to the current lifestyle and lack of preventive strategies of those diseases, increasing their incidence, too.

Methodological Approach: The following qualitative investigation is based on the phenomenological method due its descriptive analysis focused on shared experience, obtaining signals or signs to analyze; it is possible to identify social structures and processes to examine the experiences of the family of the mentally ill.

Results:

According to the telling given by our three informants during the interviews, we can summarize the following findings under these categories: - Altered family: Informants reported initial denial, role changes, conflicts and difficulties in living. - Economic Stability: Families report that despite the expenses associated with living with a mental illness because of their treatment, they have not compromised its economy, because costs have been adjusted. - Stable labor situation: They reported that in every family there is a patient’s primary caregiver, who is responsible to meet and escort to medical advice. - Social isolation: lack of coexistence concerned with family, friends and neighbors because of the condition of the patient. - Emotions: The main expressed feelings were: anger,

helplessness, sadness and impotence.

Discussion: According to Roman Cuevas (2007), Denial is normal in such circles as “There are families who do not want to face reality and ignore ignorance.” According to the characterization of the Mentally Ill given by the Dictionary of Social Psychology: “The mental illness is” the bearer of anxiety and conflicts of the immediate group, the family group, “and also, the symbol and repository of alienated aspects of social structure and spokesman for his insecurity and uncertainty environment”. Perez Alonso in his obtained results in 2009, which family members shared their experiences, mentioned a “stigma” which appears in all its variants in the patient, family, society and health professionals. To try to combat this situation, they recognize the social need to be aware that mental illness exists and to eliminate rejection.