SIBLINGS AS CAREGIVERS FOR THE SERIOUSLY MENTALLY-ILL

The majority of seriously mentally ill people are unmarried and cannot obtain support from spouses of children. Help from parents is time li mited. In the absence of spouses and parents, siblings are often the c losest relations for many seriously mentally ill people, but their pot entially supportive role has rarely been examined. This article report s results from a pilot study of 108 siblings with seriously mentally i ll brothers and sisters. The findings indicate that siblings had regul ar contact and positive relationships with their ill sibs. Furthermore , most were willing to increase their current amount of support. Sibli ng support was greater when both parents were not alive, resulting in the increased importance of siblings over the life course. Policy make rs, mental health professionals, and researchers should pay more atten tion to the question of sibling support.