Abstract:
Although it is well document that caregiving for persons with early schizophrenia affects all aspects of the parents lives, little is known about the caregiving process in caring for adult children with early schizophrenia. The purpose of this study was to explore basic social psychological process of being caregivers for adult children with schizophrenia among Thai parents. A grounded theory study was conducted. Twenty-five parents whose adult children were first diagnosed with schizophrenia within five years were interviewed, at the Outpatient (OPD) and Inpatient Departments (IPD) of the biggest psychiatric hospital in Thailand. The interviewed data were transcribed and analyzed using the constant-comparative method of the Straussian grounded theory approach. Struggling to restore normalcy was the basic social psychological process of being caregivers for adult children with early schizophrenia. It began with causal conditions: learning the diagnosis and facing shattered dreams. Because of the unstable and unpredictable nature of psychotic symptoms and the lack of experience and caregiving skills to work with mental illness, the parents had difficulties achieving their childrens normalcy. However, perceiving caregiving as an unavoidable role, a contextual condition which included a sense of responsibility, feelings of love and sympathy, and believing in karma helped the parents in continually provided caregiving for their children. In order to restore normalcy, the parents struggled to control psychotic symptoms, which involved monitoring the symptoms, maintaining medication adherence, managing the symptoms, and preventing the exacerbation and relapse of the symptoms; as well as struggling to deal with the impacts of the illness, including dealing with the childrens poor decision making, dealing with the stigma of the disease, and dealing with loss and difficulties. As time passed, the parents began to realize and accept a new normal that they were unable to restore their childrens normalcy. Their children still had to be the patients with schizophrenia who needed long term care. Once realized, most of the parents had maintained caregiving with new perspectives in being caregivers for their children, while some of them distanced themselves from caregiving. These findings indicate that caregiving in the early phase of schizophrenia is a very difficult situation. In addition, the findings can be used as basis information for developing an early intervention program and for further study, to alleviate the parents struggling, enhance their adaptive coping response and help them to overcome their difficulties.
Mahidol University. Mahidol University Library and Knowledge Center