ABSTRACT
ALMOST ALL FAMILIES at one time or another have problems with physical health. These tend to strike more frequently when the children are young and, again, when the family members have passed the middle years. But no stage in the family life cycle is invulnerable to illness. Nor is there a point in the cycle of family life that is not susceptible to problems with mental health, although mental illness occurs with less frequency among families in our society than does physical illness. If the physical illness is time-limited, even though severe, families generally can cope with the illness and its concomitant problems. The family may be exhausted by the illness, physically, emotionally, and financially, but—with or without help—the family members are able to renew their energies and resources and continue to function with a reasonable 193degree of competence. Fewer families, however, are able to tolerate either the strain of a chronic illness that consumes their income and depletes their economic resources or of a chronic illness that drains them in all areas: physically, emotionally, and financially.
