Original Research Article
Year: 2017 | Month: November | Volume: 7 | Issue: 11 | Pages: 84-94
Burden, Perceived Stigma and Coping Style of Caregivers of Patients with Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder
Himanshu Sharma1*, Bharti Sharma2*, Deepak B Sharma3**
1Professor & HOD, 2Clinical Psychologist, 3Professor,
*Department of Psychiatry, **Department of Community Medicine,
Pramukhswami Medical College, Shree Krishna Hospital, Karamsad, Dist: Anand, Gujarat, India.
Corresponding Author: Himanshu Sharma
ABSTRACT
Background- Schizophrenia and Bipolar Disorder (BD) are two major psychotic disorders which cause considerable burden and limitations among the caregivers of the affected patients. Stigma can be a major obstacle to recovery and can limit opportunities of work and social functioning of patients and their family members. Coping with such patients can be taxing for the caregivers.
Aims and Objectives- (1)To assess the objective and subjective impact of burden in caregivers of schizophrenia and bipolar disorder patients (2) To measure the perceived stigma in primary caregivers (3)To identify the coping mechanisms used by the caregivers
Materials and Methods-This is a cross sectional hospital based study. The caregivers of a total of 88 patients of which 50 with schizophrenia and 38 with Bipolar Mood Disorder were taken as participants. The semi structured Proforma, The Burden Assessment Schedule (BAS), Brief COPE and Perceived Discrimination Devaluation Scale (PDD) translated and validated in Gujarati were administered.
Results and Conclusion- The level of burden for schizophrenic caregivers is more as compared to the caregivers of BD. The caregivers of patients with schizophrenia were more stigmatized as compared to caregivers of BD patients. Females were more stigmatized than males in both the groups. The caregivers of both BD and schizophrenic patients used Active emotional coping to combat the situation.
Key words: Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Burden, Stigma, Coping