Journal Articles

Mainland Chinese Family Caregiver Narratives in Mental Illness: Disruption and Continuity

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This study employs a phenomenological hermeneutic approach to analyse narratives written by mainland Chinese people who care for a family member with serious mental illness. Locating culture at the centre of the analysis, the study explicates and explores the salient themes and subthemes in texts that were originally published in a monthly psychoeducational newsletter. Analysis reveals that mental illness constitutes a catastrophic and disruptive event for the caregivers, for the most part women, and their families. Caregivers are driven by intersecting cultural and state-propagated discourses to exert heroic effort and commitment in order to ensure a full “recovery” for the ill family member. In light of the intense stigma surrounding mental illness in Chinese culture, the family member's condition is actively concealed by caregivers. This is to protect healthy family members as much as the ill person. The study concludes that cultural phenomena inform both the sense of disruption experienced by mainland Chinese family caregivers in mental illness and the sense of continuity in their fulfilling of socioculturally prescribed roles.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Asian Studies Review

Call Number

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Publisher

Hoboken, United States : Routledge Taylor & Francis Group., 2010

Collation

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Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

10357823

Classification

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Content Type

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

Volume 34, Issue 1 March 2010 , pages 83 - 103

Subject(s)

China
Mental Illness
Phenomenological hermeneutics
Family caregiving
Illness narratives

Specific Detail Info

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Statement of Responsibility

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