Psychiatric patients and families: moving from a catastrophic event to long-term coping

The families of psychiatric patients struggle throughout their member's illness with the change it brings and their own feelings about the illness. In the past, families were blamed for many of the problems that mentally ill people experienced, and although this perception of fault has changed, families still experience a catastrophic event when mental illness occurs. Coping will vary among families, and all experience grief as a result of their losses. Psychiatric home care can help families learn new and adaptive coping skills. Careful family assessment can be an important part of the patient's treatment, forming a partnership to reintegrate the ill person into the family and home.