A psychosocial study of young adults’ experiences of their sibling’s mental illness
- Authors: Laurie, Gina
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- South Africa -- Case studies , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psychology , Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6165 , vital:21053
- Description: There are a number of studies that investigate the experiences of mental illness in the context of sibling relationships. However, these studies have not focused on young adulthood and limited research has been conducted in South Africa. This research uses a psychosocial framework which combines psychoanalytic theory and social constructionism to account for individual subjectivity and social influences. This method sought to answer two main research questions: how do young adults construct their experiences of having a sibling with a mental illness and with what effects, and how might we understand the emotional investments in these constructions? Six participants were interviewed and the findings suggest that participants draw on four main discourses in constructing their siblings’ mental illness: a discourse of mental illness as a sickness, a discourse of mental illness as part of the person, a discourse of mental illness as bad behaviour, and a discourse of mental illness as a spiritual issue. These discourses and the function of these discourses are discussed. Furthermore, an extract from one participant is examined in a case study format so as to explore the emotional investments in the discourse of mental illness as bad behaviour, arguing that her investments in this discourse serves to protect her by enabling her to manage feelings of not being ‘good enough’.
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- Date Issued: 2017
Experiences of having an adult sibling with a mental illness: an interpretative phenomenological analysis
- Authors: Flannigan, Raylene
- Date: 2017
- Subjects: Mentally ill -- Family relationships , Mentally ill -- Care -- South Africa , Mental illness -- Public opinion -- South Africa , Mentally ill -- Deinstitutionalization , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Psycnology , Brothers and sisters of people with disabilities -- Case studies -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/6309 , vital:21088
- Description: Mental illness has a significant impact on the life of an individual, however not only on the individual but on the family as well. A considerable amount of research has been carried out regarding the experiences of family members internationally. However, in South Africa (SA) there is inadequate information regarding the experiences of families, especially adult siblings, of individuals with a mental illness. Specifically, there is a lack of research investigating individuals’ perceptions of their brother or sister’s mental illness as well as how this affects the sibling relationship. It is for this reason that the current study aimed at exploring the lived experiences of ‘black1’ isiXhosa speaking individuals who have a sibling with a mental illness. The study employed Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as its qualitative approach. A sample of five participants between the ages of 20-50 years was selected through purposive and snowballing sampling techniques. Semi-structured interviews were utilised and were transcribed and analysed based on the IPA framework. The analysis of the participants’ transcripts provided three master themes, which are supported by subordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) experiencing the sibling as a burden post diagnosis, 2) positive experiences from the sibling’s mental illness, 3) participant’s experiences of their sibling’s treatment and the mental health care system. Participants experienced financial burden as well as the burden of caregiving as a result of their sibling’s mental illness; these are understood as being subjective and objective burdens. While no change was experienced within the sibling relationship, the siblings’ mental illness was experienced as affecting the sibling relationship due to the socioeconomic status of the participants and stigma. The findings support and expand on the growing knowledge of adult sibling relationships and mental illness.
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- Date Issued: 2017