Women’s Perception of Spousal Psychotic Disorders: A Qualitative Study
Abstract
Objective: Mental disorders are often accompanied by serious problems in personal and social communication, including marital problems. In this regard, women whose spouses have mental disorders are less likely to express their mental experiences and emotions due to the cultural barriers of the community. This study aimed to identify and explain the shared mental experiences of women whose spouses suffered from psychotic disorders.
Method: This was a qualitative study with a content analysis approach. In total, 15 women whose spouses were admitted to the psychiatric ward of a hospital due to psychotic disorders were selected through purposive sampling. Data were collected by conducting in-depth semi-structured interviews on experiences of women regarding their spouses’ psychotic disorder. Data were analyzed using conventional content analysis techniques.
Results: In this study, 28 subcategories and 7 main categories (lack of intimacy, social constraints, dual emotions, confusion and mental exhaustion, fear and concern, coping strategies, and life problems) were developed.
Conclusion: Based on the results of the study, women whose spouses suffered from psychotic disorders experienced various psychological challenges. Therefore, it is recommended that the health care staff take such psychological challenges into consideration to design and implement effective strategies to solve the related problems.
2. Janardhana N, Raghunandan S, Naidu DM, Saraswathi L, Seshan V. Care giving of people with severe mental illness: An Indian experience. Indian J Psychol Med. 2015;37(2):184-94.
3. Bonelli RM, Koenig HG. Mental disorders, religion and spirituality 1990 to 2010: a systematic evidence-based review. J Relig Health. 2013;52(2):657-73.
4. Janardhana N, Raghunandan S, Naidu DM, Saraswathi L, Seshan V. Care giving of people with severe mental illness: An Indian experience. Indian J Psychol Med. 2015; 37(2): 184–194.
5. Idstad M RE, Tambs K. The effect of change in mental disorders status on change in spousal mental: The HUNT study. Soc Sci Med. 2011;73(9):1408-15.
6. Von Kardorff E, Soltaninejad A, Kamali M, Eslami Shahrbabaki M. Family caregiver burden in mental illnesses: The case of affective disorders and schizophrenia–a qualitative exploratory study. Nord J Psychiatry. 2016;70(4):248-54.
7. McAuliffe R, O'connor L, Meagher D. Parents' experience of living with and caring for an adult son or daughter with schizophrenia at home in Ireland: a qualitative study. J Psychiatr Ment Health Nurs. 2014;21(2):145-53.
8. Lund C, De Silva M, Plagerson S, Cooper S, Chisholm D, Das J, et al. Poverty and mental disorders: breaking the cycle in low-income and middle-income countries. Lancet. 2011;378(9801):1502-14.
9. Blanthorn-Hazell S, Gracia A, Roberts J, Boldeanu A, Judge D. A survey of caregiver burden in those providing informal care for patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder with agitation: results from a European study. Ann Gen Psychiatry. 2018; 17: 8.
10. Mittendorfer-Rutz E, Rahman S, Tanskanen A, Majak M, Mehtälä J, Hoti F, et al. Burden for Parents of Patients With Schizophrenia—A Nationwide Comparative Study of Parents of Offspring With Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis, Epilepsy, and Healthy Controls. Schizophr Bull. 2019;45(4):794-803.
11. Imkome E-U, Waraassawapati K. Perspectives and Experiences of Primary Caregivers of Individuals with Schizophrenia in Thailand. Issues Ment Health Nurs. 2018;39(10):858-64.
12. Behboodi-Moghadam Z , Nazem Ekbatani N, Zareiyan A, Nahid Dehghan Nayeri N. Workplace Harassment Through the Experiences of Iranian Women: A Qualitative Study [In Persian]. 2017. Iran J Psychiatry Behav Sci. 2018;12(3):e66945.
13. Armat MR, Assarroudi A, Rad M, Sharifi H, Heydari A. Inductive and deductive: Ambiguous labels in qualitative content analysis [In Persian]. The Qualitative Report. 2018;23(1):219-21.
14. Möller-Leimkühler AM, Wiesheu A. Caregiver burden in chronic mental illness: the role of patient and caregiver characteristics. Eur Arch Psychiatry Clin Neurosci. 2012;262(2):157-66.
15. Yesufu-Udechuku A, Harrison B, Mayo-Wilson E, Young N, Woodhams P, Shiers D, Kuipers E, Kendall T. Interventions to improve the experience of caring for people with severe mental illness: systematic review and meta-analysis. Br J Psychiatry. 2015;206(4):268-74.
16. Karamlou S, Mottaghipour Y, Mazaheri MA. Expressed emotion, family environment, family intervention and the psychiatric relapse of patients with severe mental disorders in Iran. International Journal of Culture and Mental Health. 2010;3(2):137–47.
17. Karamlou S, Mottaghipour Y, Borjali A, Sadat Sadeghi M, Khanipour H. Effective factors in experiencing shame in families of patients with severe psychiatric disorders: perceived stigma, rejection sensitivity, cognitive appraisal [In Persian]. Clin Psychol Stud. 2016; 6(23): 25-39.
18. Skundberg‐Kletthagen H, Wangensteen S, Hall‐Lord ML, Hedelin B. Relatives of patients with depression: experiences of everyday life. Scand J Caring Sci. 2014;28(3):564-71.
19. Navidian A, Bahari F. Burden experienced by family caregivers of patients with mental disorders. Pakistan Journal of Psychological Research. 2008;23(1-2):19-29.
20. Malla A, Joober R, Garcia A. “Mental illness is like any other medical illness”: a critical examination of the statement and its impact on patient care and society. J Psychiatry Neurosci. 2015; 40(3): 147–50.
| Files | ||
| Issue | Vol 14 No 4 (2019) | |
| Section | Original Article(s) | |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.18502/ijps.v14i4.1983 | |
| Keywords | ||
| Psychotic Disorders Qualitative Research Spouse Women | ||
| Rights and permissions | |
|
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. |
