Effectiveness Of A Positive Cognitive Behaviour Therapy Intervention In Primary Caregivers Of Mentally Ill Patients

Abstract

The current study has its importance as there is a rising incidence of mental illness and socio-demographic transitions all over the world, particularly in developing countries such as India. While mental illness brings with its enormous psycho-social sequalae for the patient, it is also associated with significant stress and burden for the caregivers- familial or professional. newlineThe caregivers often push their limits in the task of giving care but might not always feel as strong and might not be able to even vent out their feelings of how they exactly feel. As caregiving is considered a very noble thing to do, their innate feelings and distress might not be acknowledged and taken care of. Therefore, while caring for their loved ones, carers sometimes may take for granted their own quality of life and emotional health. However, this issue should be taken seriously and considered as an urgent priority. newlineMore so, in the Indian setting, there have been quite a few exploratory studies on Caregiver stress, but intervention studies have rarely been carried out. The intervention studies that are present mostly focus on Psych education. It is not only important to understand the elements of disturbance in a caregiver s life but also simultaneously build strong and appropriate mediations for them to have an aid in their lives. newlineA sample of 60 primary caregivers of mentally ill patients was collected through Convenience and Snowball non-probability sampling technique. These participants were practicing caregiving for the patients suffering from long term chronic mental illness admitted in hospitals in Delhi NCR. The present sample was collected from those hospitals and NGO s who permitted for data collection. The sample consists of both male and female participants. However, no fixed number is associated to any gender. Participants who met the inclusion criteria after the screening process were first recruited to the intervention group. newlineThe research is a Quasi-experimental interventional study based on a mixed methods sequenti