The mental health of men with a psychiatric disorder or traumatic brain injury: Wives' labeling and husbands' perceived control

Objective: To investigate the relations among wives' labeling of their husb ands' psychiatric disorder or brain injury as an organic illness, the husba nds' perceived control over their disabilities, and the husbands' mental he alth. Participants: Fifty-seven male clients of the Department of Rehabilit ation, Israel's Ministry of Defence (26 with a psychiatric disorder and 31 with a traumatic brain injury) and their wives. Measures: Illness Labeling Questionnaire, the Perceived Control Over Illness Questionnaire, and the Me ntal Health Inventory. Results: Husbands' mental health was low but did not differ according to disability; wives' labeling of husbands' condition was negatively related to the husbands' mental health; husbands' perceived con trol was positively related to their mental health for both disabilities. C onclusion: Organic illness labels, even when adopted by the wives of the pe rsons with the disability, seem to be negatively related to that person's m ental health, whereas perceived control over a mental disorder or a brain i njury seems to contribute positively to mental health, independently of how the disorder or injury is labeled.