Family caregivers for adults with Serious Mental Illness (SMI) face remarkable challenges providing appropriate support for the person with the disorder. SMI alters the developmental process, often starting in adolescence or young adulthood, with consequences for family functioning. Family members often feel responsible, or may be held responsible by legal and social service systems. The burden of care can be substantial, and often lasts a lifetime for committed family members, including parents of adults with SMI, spouses, partners, siblings, and, with later onset disorders, children.
Education, training, and support services available through the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)opens in new window.
A website for children in a household with a mentally ill member from the Mental Health Partnershipsopens in new window.
The University of Illinois at Chicago offers the Journey of Hope (JOH) Family Education Course.
Older Adults with Schizophrenia and Their Caregivers – An Often Invisible Population opens in new window (World Federation for Mental Health, 2014) considers caring for those with severe mental illness across the lifespan, including a section on caregivers of older adults.