Predictors of General Health in the Experience of Caregiving among the Caregivers of the Female Mentally-III

A woman holds high value in the society and her mental health is as important as her physical health. However, epidemiologic and anthropological data point to different patterns and clusters of psychiatric disorders and psychological distress among women than men. The role of caregivers is highly important to make the process of recovery for female patients better with lesser relapses. A review done by NIMHANS (2011) has revealed that the role of caregivers has been ignored by the District Mental Health Programme in different states of India. The assessment of the needs of the caregivers and the problems they face is of prime significance since it affects the recovery process of the female patients. General Health is one of the needs and problems faced by the caregivers studied over the years by different researchers. Among the variables that influence General Health, Experience of Caregiving has been explored relatively less. Therefore the present study aims to find the predictors of General Health in the Experience of Caregiving among the Caregivers of the female mentally ill patients. The sample consisted of 50 caregivers of female patients who have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia (22), Major Depression (10) and Bipolar Affective Disorder (18). General Health Questionnaire by Goldberg in the 1970's and the Experience of Caregiving Inventory by Szmukler et. al in 1996 were used to assess the General Health and Experience of Caregiving respectively. Regression Analysis was used to predict General Health from the scores of Experience of Caregiving. The results revealed that Problems with Services predict Somatic Symptoms and Social Dysfunction significantly. The dimension of Loss predicts Anxiety and Insomnia significantly. Depression was found to be predicted by both Problems with Services and Dependency significantly. The findings of this study can prove to be very helpful for the Xllth District Mental Health Programme which aims at providing counselling for the caregivers. The results of this study can be used to make these counselling sessions more problem-focused and solution-focused. Thus, notjust the particular symptom of distress in the caregiver can be treated faster, but the problems that are the cause for their symptoms can also be assessed and dealt with.