Mental illness affects over 57 million adults in the US and has wide-ranging impacts on the entire family unit. Families experience social isolation, financial hardship, and increased stress as about 40% of those discharged from psychiatric care return to family. Children of parents with mental illness are at greater risk for health and social issues. Siblings and other family members also struggle with the illness. Reducing family stress requires understanding caregiver needs, providing information and support, and involving the family in the treatment process.

1. How Does Mental Illness Affect the Family Unit?
Lael Clapp
Argosy University

2. How Does Mental Illness Affect the Family Unit
57.7 million adults in the United States suffer from a mental
illness (National Institute of Mental Health [NIMH], 2009).
Mental illness is manifested through:
• Bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, panic disorder, and obsessive compulsive
disorder (American Psychiatric Association[APA], 2000).
Mental illness encompasses:
• Behavioral issues, emotional instability, cognitive malfunctions, and
impairment (Zauszniewski, Bekhet, & Suresky, 2008).
Mental health disorder in the United States are responsible for more than
15% of the overall disease, more than all forms of cancer combined
(Surgeon General’s Report, 1996).

3. The Impact of Mental Illness on the Family Unit
Approximately 40% of individuals discharged from a psychiatric facility
return to the care of family members (Johnson, 2000).
Family members carry a heavy burden when caretaking for a mentally ill
family member as a result of disruptive behaviors, disrupted routines
within the family unit, and little outside support due to stigma associated
with mental illness (Zauszniewski et al., 2008).
Family members are impacted by mental illness experience:
• Social isolation, financial hardship, marital problems, and increased
genetic risks in mental health issues

4. The Members
Children
Nearly 23% of children in the United States live with parents
who have a mental illness (Reupert, & Maybery, 2007).
Children of parents with a mental illness run a greater risk of:
• Lower physical health, lower psychological health, and lower social health
than do other children (Reupert, & Maybery, 2007).
Children of parents who are mentally ill:
• Are forced to take on responsibilities of the parent they are not equipped
to handle
• Often develop attachment problems due to instability in parental
emotional behavior
• Tend to have relational issues throughout childhood and adulthood
(Reupert, & Maybery, 2007).

5. The Members
Siblings
• Siblings in the family unit are impacted by mental illness with the onset
assessment, and coping of illness in a sibling Lukens, Thorning, & Lohrer, 2004).
• Because of the bond between siblings due to shared background and
experiences, mental illness in a sibling can be impact in a disruptive and
very stressful way (Lukens, et al., 2004).
• Siblings experience tremendous duress and strain on their relationships
with other family members because they feel the need to continually
strive toward building hopefulness and resilience for the entire family unit
(Lukens, et al., 2004).

6. The Members
Parents
12 million children in America suffer from mental illness (Scharer,
2002).
• Parents experience financial stress while trying to meet medical needs of
their child (DeRigne, 2010).
• Parents are often faced with the decision of whether or not to relinquish
custody of their child in order that the child might receive adequate
treatment, which causes extreme guilt on the part of the parent (DeRigne,
2010).
• Marriages are greatly impacted due to stress, lack of time for intimacy,
and feelings of inadequacy that span all aspects of coping with mental
illness in a child (Cook, Hoftschmidt, Cohler, & Pickett, 1992).

7. The Members
Females
38.8% of female caregivers suffer from depressive disorders, 20.9% suffer
from somatoform disorders, and 23.95 suffer from anxiety disorders
(Zauszniewski, et al., 2008).
• Females in the family unit are greatly impacted by a mentally ill family
member (Schudlich, et al., 2008).
The majority of individual who caregive for a family member with a mental
illness are female (Zauszniewski, et al., 2008).
The burden of caretaking causes negative thought patterns leading to clinical
depression and other health issues (Zauszniewski, et al., 2008).

8. Caretaking
Stress
• Caregivers often do not know how to give care or where to find treatment
for a loved one (Pickett-Shenk, et al., 2006).
• Lack of information and knowledge creates a tens environment that
contributes to relapse in the mentally ill individual (Rea, et al., 2003).
• Exclusion from the mentally ill loved one’s process of treatment is
stressful for to the family (Johnson, 2000).
• Not understanding enough about medications and being included as team
members with professionals creates stress for the family (Johnson, 2000).

9. Caregivers
Stress Reducers
• Pharmacotherapy through psychosocial experiences can minimize stress
(Rea, et al., 2003).
• Medication and conformity along with improved psychosocial
performance can reduce familial stress (Rea, et al., 2003).
• The parent’s ability to modify aspect of the environment that are triggers
for the mentally ill individual will reduce familial stress (Rea, et al., 2003).
• Group therapy and family-led programs greatly reduce stress (Johnson,
2000).

10. Conclusion
• Caregivers of a family member with mental illness need to be understood
before help can be implemented that directly impacts the family unit
• Coping with a mentally ill family member is a many sided attempt that
requires change on all levels (Beigin, et al., 2008).
• Understanding the caregiver’s needs, implementing solutions for those
needs, and offering support to all the family unit members will assist in
offering better quality of life to each member of the family unit (Johnson,
2000).

11. References
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12. Cont’d
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