Challenging Roles: Insights Into Issues for Men Caring for Family Members With Mental Illness

Abstract

Assumptions informing expectations of caring may not reflect the diversity of circumstances in which informal care is provided, and scant attention has been given to the experiences of men providing care to family members. This study reports on qualitative findings from a study that explored these issues among rural men caring for partners or children with a range of mental illnesses. The findings suggest that the primary relationship between carers and care recipients influences the ways in which the men understand and practice their caring roles. Fathers consistently described proactive approaches to caring and were strongly focused on managing the illness condition. There was some complementarity between parenting and caring roles that is likely to explain why they reported a high use of, and satisfaction with, mental health services. Husbands tended to take reactive approaches to caring in which they were more concerned with managing situations that were associated with their partners' illnesses. Husbands reported limited contact with treatment and support services and perceived them as inappropriate to their circumstances. All of the men were presented with complex tensions in their caring roles, and the men's accounts of caring that are presented offer useful insight into the contexts in which men are increasingly taking on caring roles in families and inform efforts to support men in this capacity.

Fathers’ experiences of caring for an adult child with psychosis: a qualitative study

“…This could have been because of the love and responsibility they felt towards their son or daughter, giving meaning to both their fathering and caring role (McAuliffe et al, 2014). Fraser and Warr (2009) explored issues for men caring for family members with 'mental illness' and found that fathers in the sample never questioned the on-going care or responsibility of their child, in line with the current study. It could be understood as fathers wanting to maintain and uphold the crucial parts of their connection with their child and so extend the characteristic duties and responsibilities associated with parenting (Fraser & Warr, 2009).…”

“…Fraser and Warr (2009) explored issues for men caring for family members with 'mental illness' and found that fathers in the sample never questioned the on-going care or responsibility of their child, in line with the current study. It could be understood as fathers wanting to maintain and uphold the crucial parts of their connection with their child and so extend the characteristic duties and responsibilities associated with parenting (Fraser & Warr, 2009). This links with the moral assumptions in how fathers feel they should act and potentially how people in their social network or community will view their actions (Wall & Arnold, 2007).…”

“…Despite an overall sense of experiencing carers groups as helpful, not all participants attended these support groups regularly participants and reported being the only male carer in the group. A practical reason for this might be fathers' discomfort at attending a group that mainly mothers go too (Fraser & Warr, 2009;Spandler et al, 2013). Furthermore, this also links with research showing that men generally struggle to express their emotions at the best of times (Spandler et al, 2013).…”

The Journey Through and Beyond Mental Health Services in the United Kingdom: A Typology of Parents’ Ways of Managing the Crisis of Their Teenage Child's Depression

“…In general, studies involving parents have often tended to focus more on mothers rather than fathers (e.g., Brannen & Nilsen, ; Brumariu & Kerns, ; Connell & Goodman, ). This could be because in Western society the majority of everyday parenting tasks are still more likely to be conducted by mothers than fathers, with mothers tending to be viewed as children's primary caregivers (Bianchi, ; Fraser & Warr, ), although national trends suggest a significant increase in fathers’ involvement in their children's lives since the 1970s (Bianchi, ; O'Brien & Shemilt, ). Thus, this could imply that unless one deliberately seeks equal representation of mothers and fathers in one's study of parents, which was not the case in the IMPACT trial or the IMPACT‐ME study, mothers may inevitably form the majority of such a sample.…”

Women with postpartum depression: "my husband" stories

“…Some authors have suggested, however, that this carer role has been overlooked by health professions; an omission partly attributed to postpartum nursing's traditional focus on the mother and infant dyad rather than on a family perspective [ 9 - 11 ]. Others have found that care giving is also seldom associated with the traditional ideals of masculinity [ 12 , 13 ]. These authors determined that women with PPD nevertheless sought partners' or relatives' assistance to lessen their suffering and to assist them with functioning.…”