Siblings of Patients With Schizophrenia: Sibling Bond, Coping Patterns, and Fear of Possible Schizophrenia Heredity

Abstract

Siblings of schizophrenia patients are from the patient's perspective important support providers, but most studies on family burden have focused on the parental role. This study aims to develop a detailed analysis of the psychological aspects of having a sibling with schizophrenia. We did a qualitative study with audiotaped semistructured interviews of 16 siblings. The reliability of the inductive categorization of data was high. A unifying theme appeared to be an emotional sibling bond characterized by feelings of love, sorrow, anger, envy, guilt, and shame. The major categories linked to coping with the situation were avoidance, isolation, normalization, caregiving, and grieving. A third major theme consisted of a fear of possible schizophrenia heredity. The siblings described concerns about the impact of a family history of psychiatric illness, a fear of becoming mentally ill, and reflections about "bad genes." Our findings support earlier findings of coping patterns but complement them by providing a model that includes awareness of genetic vulnerability as an important part of siblings' subjective burden.

Caring for a sibling with anorexia nervosa: A qualitative study

“…Consistent with the literature on schizophrenia (Friedrich et al, 2008;Landeen et al, 1992), all of the siblings indicated that they required general information about AN and opportunities to discuss how to apply such information to their sibling and family. Similar to siblings of affected siblings with other mental illnesses (Lukens et al, 2004;Stalberg et al, 2004), the participants in this study strongly recommended that clinicians be non-blaming, empathic and supportive. Furthermore, siblings suggested that workshops or support groups specifically for siblings would be very helpful.…”

“…Barak and Solomon (2005) found that the quality of the sibling relationship deteriorated over time and that non-affected siblings reported a more distant relationship with their parents and the affected sibling than normal controls with their own parents and siblings. Qualitative studies have revealed a full spectrum of emotional responses from siblings including sorrow and guilt over being healthy and that their sibling was suffering (Stalberg, Ekerwald, Dverre, & Hultman, 2004), and feelings of ambivalence towards their ill sibling (Lukens, Thorning, & Lohrer, 2004;Stalberg et al, 2004). Siblings also describe positive aspects of the caregiving experience including increased empathy and emotional responsiveness to others and greater family cohesion as a result of the illness (Greenberg, Greenley, & Benedict, 1994;Horwitz, 1994;Lukens et al, 2004).…”

“…Friedrich et al (2008) identified a number of coping strategies utilized by siblings of individuals with schizophrenia: (1) Educational information to better manage the illness; (2) the recognition that the sibling with schizophrenia is not at fault for their illness and (3) accepting the inevitable consequences of the illness to the family. Siblings had a propensity to use problem solving, cognitive and physical avoidance to cope with the illness (Barak & Solomon, 2005;Friedrich et al, 2008;Stalberg et al, 2004) and to disengage from their affected sibling the more they were concerned about their own genetic vulnerability (Stalberg et al, 2004). Siblings expressed a strong need for additional information about the illness (Lukens et al, 2004) and greater services for the affected sibling (Friedrich et al, 2008;Landeen, Whelton, Dermer, Cardamone, Munroe-Blum, & Thornton, 1992), seeing the need for such services as much greater than the need for services for family members (Friedrich et al, 2008).…”

“I screamed for help”: A single case study of one sister’s experiences with formal psychiatric care when her brother became mentally ill

“…[28,29]), the relationships between siblings are unique in that they are longlasting. Anna's feelings of helplessness and frustration over not understanding her brother and not gaining understanding of him from the formal psychiatric caregivers seem to be overwhelming.…”

Paranoide Schizophrenie bei eineiigen Zwillingen - vom Angehörigen zum Betroffenen

“…Für eine Ersterkrankung fällt eine ausgeprägte und andauernde Ne− gativsymptomatik auf, möglicherweise bestand schon vor der jetzigen psychotischen Episode ein längeres Prodromalstadium. [16,17]. Ängste von Geschwistern vor der eigenen Erkrankung sind aber auch realistisch in der Tatsache begründet, dass sich das Lebenszeitrisiko für eine Erkrankung aus dem schizophrenen Formenkreis von 1 % in der Allgemeinbevölkerung für Menschen mit einem schizophren erkrankten Geschwister auf ca.…”