A Mentally Ill Patient and his/her Social Environment

Background: Mental illness (MI) markedly affects a person’s daily living and leads to disability, reduced duration of active life and, finally, tremendous economic losses incurred by the state and society. Moreover, it has an adverse impact on the patient’s immediate social surroundings. The aim of the research was to study various aspects of mentally ill patients’ daily living and their social environment in order to optimize psychosocial rehabilitation programs and therapies. Methods: One thousand forty two mentally ill people and 580 persons from their social environment participated in an anonymous social survey. The survey was carried out using specially developed structured questionnaires. The results showed that MI changes the quality of life of mentally ill people (MIP): impaired well-being (84.4%), curbing of interests (36.0%), increased emotional sensitivity (39.0%), low self-esteem (75.4%), problems in family relations (78.0%), dramatic loss of sexual activity (72.3%), and in 75.8% patients – stigmatizing effect of their MI. The presence of a mentally-ill member in a family significantly affected the life and inner world of people close to that member, and modified their professional activity (38.8%), daily living (56.8%) and emotional state (36.2%). Conclusion: To improve application of psychosocial rehabilitation methods, an attempt was made to conduct a comprehensive medical and social study of the mentally ill and their social environment.