EXAMINATION OF GRIEF AMONG FAMILY MEMBERS OF INDIVIDUALS WITH SERIOUSAND PERSISTENT MENTAL-ILLNESS

Many family members experience a profound sense of loss when a relativ e becomes mentally ill. The adjustment to this loss is similar to grie f as a response to death. The extent of this grief may be explained by personal characteristics of family members, the severity of the illne ss, and the extent of social support available. A family member's emot ional response to a relative's mental illness may be exacerbated by in creases in both objective and subjective burden. While grief among fam ilies with a seriously mentally ill relative is the emotional response to reflecting on the loss of an emotionally healthy relative, burden reflects the present state of responsibility for the ill relative, exp ressed in both subjective and objective terms. In this study, family m ember characteristics, social support, objective burden and subjective burden contributed to explaining expressed grief among 225 family mem bers of seriously mentally ill individuals. Mental health and family s upport professionals are encouraged to recognize the grief response in family members with a mentally ill relative.