Mothers role in recovery from mental illness

Negative family attitudes can have an adverse effect on recovery from mental illness.

While family members often provide critical support, their negative attitude has the potential to affect the ways that mentally ill persons view themselves, adversely influencing the likelihood of recovery from the illness.

Earlier research has shown that the stigma associated with mental illness can be a major impediment to recovery, affecting self-esteem and even job prospects. But research has not examined how stigma affects the self-concept and identity of those with mental illness.

Researchers studied 129 American mothers of adult children diagnosed with schizophrenia over the course of 18 months. It was found that when those with mental illness exhibited greater levels of initial symptoms, lower self-confidence and quality of life, their mothers tended to view them in more stigmatised terms - for example, seeing them as 'incompetent,' 'unpredictable' and 'unreliable'. When mothers held these views, their mentally ill children were more likely to see themselves in the same light resulting in their symptoms becoming somewhat greater and levels of self-confidence and quality of life lower.

Although family members, particularly mothers, often provide much needed support for the mentally ill, they can also be the source of negative attitudes that stigmatise these patients and impede their recovery. Many of the sentiments conveyed toward ill relatives grow out of positive intentions and reflect attempts to cope with the difficulties of having a relative with serious mental illness. Yet, stigmatizing attitudes are of concern because of their potential adverse effects.

Recovery from mental illness is not simply a matter of controlling symptoms but is to a certain extent, a social-psychological process. The ways in which people, including family members and service providers, think about persons with mental illness affect the beliefs and actions of the individuals with mental illness, in turn shaping the trajectory of recovery.