OBJECTIVE
To study the relationship between the disease burden and the characteristics of personal functioning in relatives caring for patients with mental and neurological conditions, in the context of psychological support.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
We examined 107 respondents (64 relatives of patients with schizophrenic spectrum disorders [RSS] and 43 relatives of patients with the consequences of cerebrovascular accident [CVA]) involved in the care of the patient in the settings of different models of care. The following methods were used as test methods: Methodology for the Assessment of the Negative Consequences of a Relative’s Disease (ANCRD), Freiburg Personality Inventory (FPI), Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R).
RESULTS
We described both general patterns of relationships between the disease burden and the characteristics of the personal functioning of caring relatives, as found in the group of relatives of patients with cerebral ischemia and the group of relatives of patients with cerebrovascular accident, and specific patterns of relationships determined by the nature of the disease and special requirements associated with the settings of caring for the patient. Personal predispositions associated with a more pronounced experience of various burden components in both groups included emotional lability, depression, neuroticism, irritability, and shyness. The nature of the interaction of the family with the social environment (a sense of stigmatization) and the negative transformation of the attitude towards the patient act as central components that determine the structure of the relationship between the burden and the current mental state in the group of relatives of SSD patients. In the group of relatives of CVA patients, the defining characteristic associated with the range and severity of psychopathological symptoms (SCL-90-R) is the «objective burden» (ANCRD), reflecting the severity of the somatoneurological component of the disease in the patient and the extent of directly performed manipulations to care for the patient.
CONCLUSION
The obtained data determine the «targets» and forms of psychotherapeutic work with relatives of patients. It should be aimed at the relief of psychopathological symptoms associated with stress, and harmonization of relations with the patient, and should be based on the specific features of the patient’s condition.
