IOSR Journal of Nursing and Health Science (IOSR-JNHS) e-ISSN: 2320–1959.p- ISSN: 2320–1940 Volume 3, Issue 3 Ver. IV (May-Jun. 2014), PP 61-67 www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 61 | Page A descriptive study to assess the burden among family care givers of mentally ill clients Sachin S 1 , Suresh V 2 , Ravindra H.N 3 1 Student, Sumandeep Nursing College, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Piparia, Vadodara-391760, Gujarat, India, 2 Associate Professor, Department of Mental Health Nursing, Sumandeep Nursing College, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Piparia, Vadodara-391760, Gujarat, India, 3 Principal, Sumandeep Nursing College, Sumandeep Vidyapeeth, Piparia, Vadodara-391760, Gujarat, India. Abstract: Recently, there have been increasing numbers of caregivers who provide care to their chronically ill family members. Care can represent a heavy burden and may put caregivers, who are mostly male under a high level of stress. Culturally, such caregivers are expected to cope and not to complain. The family constitutes an important support system in the care of the mentally ill in the community. Mental health professionals need to be aware of and address the stress borne by the family in caring for patients with mental illness as they treat the patient. The mental health nurse plays very important role in promotion of health, curative and preventive aspects. The study was under taken to” assess the burden among family care givers of mentally ill clients in Dhiraj hospital at vadodara in view to develop an information booklet.” Descriptive research design was adopted in this study to assess the level of burden among family care givers of mentally ill clients. Non probability convenient sampling technique was used to select 60 family care givers admitted at Dhiraj hospital, vadodara. The result reveals Overall burden scores of family caregivers revealed that that nearly 27 (45%) of subject were belong to mild burden. Minority of caregivers 8(13.3%) belongs to moderate burden. Remaining caretakers 9(15%) belong to severe burden and 16(26.7%) belongs to no burden. Chi-square test revealed that there is significant association between the level of burden and selected socio demographic variables. Keywords: burden, caregivers, family, mentally ill client, modified care givers burden assessment scale. I. Introduction Health is the absolute or ultimate state for all human beings. The World Health Organization defines „health‟ as a state of complete physical, mental, social, and spiritual wellbeing, and not merely the absence of any disease or infirmity. 1 Mental health is defined as the successful adaptation to stressors from the internal or external environment, evidenced by thoughts, feelings, and behaviours that are age appropriate and congruent with local and cultural norms. 2 Mental illness or mental disorder is a condition that affects thoughts, feelings or behaviors of someone who is strong enough to make social integration problematic, or cause personal suffering. Like other ailments and disorders, mental illness is also a type of disorder that is happening mostly around the brain. That‟s why it is called as the mental or the mind disorder. 3 Caregivers play an important role in the management of all the chronic mental illnesses. They may be family members, friends or relatives of the patient. Literature review indicates that caregivers who persistently deal with the patients of chronic mental illness show signs of stress in various forms. Care giving is a time- consuming responsibility, creating social, emotional, behavioral and financial problems for the caregivers and causes various limitations on their personal life. 4 A caregiver has been defined as a family member who has been living with the patient, and has been closely involved in his/her activities of daily living, health care, and social interaction for more than a year. 5 Burden may be defined as the presence of problems, difficulties or adverse effects which affect the lives of psychiatric patients' caregivers. 5 The World Health Organization (WHO) states caregiver burden as the “the emotional, physical, financial demands and responsibilities of an individual‟s illness that are placed on the family members, friends or other individuals involved with the individual outside the health care system. 5 The emotional impact of any psychiatric disorder on family or primary caregivers can vary from frustration, anxiety, fear, depression and guilt to grief. Because care giving is such an emotionally draining experience, caregivers have high rates of depression when compared to the general population. Research on family caregivers of mentally ill relatives has historically focused on negative aspects of care giving, often described as caregiver burden. 5