GENDER BASED COMPARATIVE STUDY ON BURDEN OF CARE OF THE KEY RELATIVES & FAMILY CLIMATE OF THE PATIENTS WITH PSYCHIATRIC ILLNESS

Mental illnesses have been dealt as the most stigmatized matter by the common people. May the illness be a “neurotic” one or very severe illness like schizophrenia, general people prefers to hush up the fact that either they or their loved ones have any problem with mental origin. Situation becomes much worse if the individual develops severe mental illness like schizophrenia. Then not only the patient but their family members & friends also become deeply aggrieved & burdened. Since time immemorial schizophrenia has been having the most enigmatic as well as fearsome image to general people, because of its uncertain aetiology and dreadful impact to the patient. Before the advent of evidenced based treatments of schizophrenia, patients were kept inside a confined environment- called ‘asylum’.