Expressed Emotions among Caregivers of Patients with Mental Illness

Abstract

Introduction: The intention of the study was to identify the feelings conveyed by caregivers of people with mental health conditions.

The purpose of this study was to identify feelings experienced by caregivers of people with mental health conditions.

Methods: The present study used an non experimental research design. 230 caregivers of patients with mental illness were chosen using a convenience sampling approach. The data was obtained through interview techniques on demographic and medication adherence scales from samples who met the inclusion criteria.

Results: The study results shown that 8.69% patients had low expressed emotion, 60% had moderately expressed emotion, and 31.30 % had high expressed emotion. The association found between the level of expressed emotion and the religion of patients was statistically significant at p < 0.05. The association found between the level of expressed emotion the number of hospital admission, types of illness, education, family monthly income, marital status, and duration of caretaking among caregivers at p < 0.05.

Conclusion: The study found that the emotions expressed by caregivers were a predictor of the re-hospitalization rate among mentally ill patients. The presence of a significant amount of expressed emotion points out the need for psychosocial support from the family members. This will reduce the emotion expressed, which could reduce relapse rates and help caregivers adapt and manage the ill family member effectively.