ABSTRACT

That serious mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or major depression constitute a burden for those who live with or have caretaker responsibilities for the person who has the mental illness has been attested to many times by family members. Just what the burden is, what characteristics of the illness are burdensome, when burden is greatest, and how the burden affects family members are questions that call for answers from research. The research literature on burden of mental illness on the family has been reviewed several times, most comprehensively by Fadden, Bebbington and Kuipers (1987), Johnson (1990), and Maurin and Boyd (1990). This chapter will review the most recent research on burden and give additional attention to affective disorders. This review update is intended to provide a context for the extent and weight of family burden, but the main purpose of the chapter is to review interventions designed to ease burden.