The forgotten caregivers: Siblings of schizophrenic patients

Experiences of caring for a sibling with schizophrenia in a Chinese context: A neglected issue

“…Caring for a sibling with schizophrenia dramatically altered the participants' lives, leaving most of them feeling stressed and helpless in the face of overwhelming responsibilities, which is consistent with previous findings (Barnable et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009;Seeman 2013). Our participants faced the challenge of balancing their caregiving responsibilities with their own lives, the lives of their nuclear family members, their work, and their social relationships, as previously reported (Barnable et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009). For this reason, our participants largely relied on, and needed help and cooperation from, members of both their families of origin and their nuclear families.…”

“…Not surprisingly, we found that the responsibility of caring for a patient with schizophrenia had a negative impact on physical, psychological, social, and financial aspects of caregivers' lives, as previously reported (Barnable et al 2006;Chan 2011;Huang et al 2009;Lee et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009). Caring for a sibling with schizophrenia dramatically altered the participants' lives, leaving most of them feeling stressed and helpless in the face of overwhelming responsibilities, which is consistent with previous findings (Barnable et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009;Seeman 2013). Our participants faced the challenge of balancing their caregiving responsibilities with their own lives, the lives of their nuclear family members, their work, and their social relationships, as previously reported (Barnable et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009).…”

“…Our participants were middle aged (mean age: 44.9 years) and tended to be female, with half being the elder sister of the patient. These characteristics of sibling caregivers reflect the common phenomenon of women being the major family caregivers in both Western (Schmid et al 2009;Seeman 2013) and Asian (Chan 2011;Chien et al 2007;Hou et al 2008;Hsiao & Tsai 2015) countries. In Taiwanese culture, Confucianism has long influenced women to assume the caregiving role for family members with mental illness, despite most of them being married and having their own children to care for (Hsiao et al 2006).…”

“…The few studies on siblings of patients with schizophrenia have tended to explore how siblings are affected by the symptoms of schizophrenia and how they manage their affected sibling's symptoms (Amaresha et al 2015;Barnable et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009;Seeman 2013;Smith et al 2007), but only three studies focussed on sibling caregivers of affected patients (Barnable et al 2006;Schmid et al 2009;Seeman 2013). Furthermore, these studies were conducted in Western countries, where family relationships are not emphasized to the same degree as in Asian countries (Hou et al 2008;Hsiao & Tsai 2015).…”

Working with Families Affected by Mental Distress: Stakeholders' Perceptions of Mental Health Nurses Educational Needs

“…Literature exploring the impact of mental health problems on the family includes the experiences of spouses, siblings, children and friends of the person with a mental health problem and provides evidence of the effects described earlier (Tweedell et al, 2004;Wade, 2006;Schmid et al, 2009;Tranvag & Kristoffersen, 2008;Small, Harrison, & Newell, 2010;HedmanAhlström, Skarsater, & Danielsson, 2011;Ali et al, 2012;McAndrew et al, 2012;Wilson, Cruickshank, & Lea, 2012). To a lesser extent, positive experiences have also been reported.…”