Psychosocial problems among caregivers of persons with schizophrenia in tertiary care hospital

Pages: 167-171
Abhijeet Singh and Arif Ali (Department of Psychiatric Social Work, LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam)

The caregivers of persons with schizophrenia experiences various psychosocial problems because of the burden and psychosocial distress associated with care giving. The present study was aimed to find the psychosocial problems among caregivers of persons with schizophrenia in tertiary care hospital. A total of 200caregivers of persons with schizophrenia were selected from in-patient department of LGB Regional Institute of Mental Health, Tezpur, Assam. Tools used in the study were Kessler-10, The Zarit burden interview, multi-dimensional scale for perceived social support, depression anxiety stress scale, family questionnaire, Connor-Davidson resilience scale, general functioning family assessment device. Study results showed high level of psychological distress (85.5%) and care burden (63.0%) in the caregivers of persons with schizophrenia. Majority of the caregivers reported extremely severe level of anxiety (70.5%), severe level of depression (47.0%) and moderate level of stress (60.0%). Majority of the caregivers reported high level of emotional over involvement (61.5%) and critical comment (82.0%), low social support(85.5%), unhealthy family functioning (88.0%) and poor resilience (31.5±7.7).The study concluded caregivers of the persons with schizophrenia experiences significant psychosocial problems, hence psychosocial management is necessary both at individual and family level.