A SURVEY ON ISSUES IN THE LIVES OF WOMEN WITH SEVERE MENTAL-ILLNESS

Objective: Women with severe mental illness were surveyed to explore i ssues in living with mental illness, personal relationships, and profe ssional relationships and health care. The topics were drawn from the literature on the psychology of women and from separate focus groups o f therapists and mental health care consumers, The women's survey resp onses were compared with men's responses to an equivalent survey to de termine if the issues affected women and men similarly. Methods: A 76- item questionnaire was completed by 107 women and 59 men from ten reha bilitation centers in Maryland. Results: A larger proportion of women than men cited personal relationships as their most important formativ e experiences, with only 32 percent of women citing severe mental illn ess or related issues as formative experiences. Despite acknowledging the negative impact of severe mental illness on their lives, most resp ondents reported normal concerns rather than illness-related ones, and most were relatively satisfied with their lives. Respondents made sen se of their problems in diverse ways, although most knew their diagnos is. Women reported both more and better quality personal relationships than men. However, women were more likely than men to report a histor y of sexual abuse, Women reported generally good relationships with pr oviders, About one-quarter to one-third of women reported not receivin g proper care for birth control and menopause and not receiving pelvic or breast examinations. Conclusions: The survey results suggested tha t personal relationships are central in women's lives, that women with severe mental illness do not see their mental illness as the main fea ture of their identities, and that women's experience of living with s evere mental illness is considerably different from that of men.