REACTION OF SPOUSES TO THEIR HUSBANDS' DIAGNOSED MENTAL ILLNESS.
Contributors: Columbia University. Teachers College.
Published: 1987
Number of pages: 166
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Health Sciences, Mental Health.
Description: This exploratory study used coping adaptation theory to examine the stress reactions experienced by wives of patients with a diagnosis of mental illness. In addition, this study identified ways in which psychiatric nurses could have intervened to help the wives cope more effectively with their stress.

Wives experienced a multitude of behavior difficulties related to their husbands' illness. In turn, wives reported social, economic, and psychological upheaval. Anxiety, sympathy, grief, and avoidance were the most frequent reactions of the wives to their husbands' mental illness. Older women tended to report fewer maladaptive reactions to their husbands' mental illness than younger women.

Wives attempted to reduce stress in the family by bearing alone the burden of the situation, thereby shielding younger children with lesser coping abilities. Because the traditional support mechanisms, family and friends, of many of the wives failed, the wives either expressed an interest in or were in therapy.

The majority of wives indicated that they did not consider asking the nurses for help believing that the nurses were there to help their husbands. However, wives reported that knowledge of mental illness and understanding of their situation were two types of help they would have wanted from the psychiatric nurses. Furthermore, wives indicated that nurses' aid would have been helpful in understanding mental illness, preserving their marriage, reducing tension, anxiety and friction, and gaining control over their lives.

Finally, the conclusions and implications of this study recognized the coping and adaptation used by wives in handling the mental illness of their husbands and stressed the need for therapeutic support of wives of mentally ill patients. In addition, the role of psychiatric nurses was reaffirmed in reducing environmental stress among families experiencing coping difficulties related to mental illness.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 48-07, Section: B, page: 1941.

Thesis (ED.D.)--COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE, 1987.

School code: 0055.