ABSTRACT
The past decade saw a growing interest in the social consequences of psy chiatric disorders (e.g., Clark, 1994; Kouzis & Eaton, 1994; Rice, Kelman, Miller, & Dunnmeyer, 1990), fueled in part by the social policy debate con cerning society’s ability to afford the inclusion of mental health care coverage in universal health insurance (Mechanic, 1993; Weil, 1991). Studies in this area show that psychiatric disorders often have substantial personal and social costs (e.g., Kouzis & Eaton, 1994) and that the current role impairment associated with these disorders can be as great as that associated with serious chronic physical illnesses (Wells et al., 1989).
