A study to assess the knowledge and attitude of care givers regarding affective disorders

People’s beliefs and attitudes towards mental illness set the stage for how they interact with, provide opportunities for, and help support a person. Attitudes and beliefs about mental illness are shaped by personal knowledge, knowing and interacting with someone living with mental illness, cultural stereotypes, and other factors. When such attitude and beliefs are expressed positively, they can result in sportive and inclusive behavior. When such attitudes and beliefs are expressed negatively, they may result in avoidance, exclusion from daily activities and in the worst case, exploitation and discrimination. In India, families represent the key resource persons in the care of patients with chronic mental illness. Mental health services have moved away from providing institutional care to community based care. So family members have increasingly found themselves becoming primary source of care and social support for relatives of persons suffering from affective disorders. Family member’s poor or lack of knowledge and negative attitude towards affective disorders threatens the effectiveness of patient care and rehabilitation. This can inhibit the decision to seek help and provide proper holistic care. Better knowledge often reported to results in improved attitude towards people with mental illness and a belief  that mental illness are treatable , can  encourage early  treatment seeking and promote better out come.

Objectives

·      To determine relationship between knowledge and attitude of care giver of patients with affective disorders.

·      To determine the association of knowledge and attitude with selected baseline variables of care givers.