Emotional journey of wives of spouses diagnosed with bipolar I disorder: moving from vicissitude towards reconciliation.

PURPOSE: Our present study was a qualitative investigation intending to explore the emotional journey of wives whose spouse has been diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder, using a phenomenological design. METHOD: Semi-structured face to face interviews were conducted with 5 wives of already diagnosed Bipolar I Disorder patients to uncover their lived experience in terms of the emotional journey they had had. For data analysis, we used Hycner's explicitation process. Moreover, for data verification we employed the strategies of frequent debriefing sessions peer review and member checks. RESULTS: Our analysis revealed six major themes encapsulating the participants emotional journey. These included Shock, Betrayal and the Incomprehensible, Apprehensions and Uncertainty, Anger and Irritability, Loneliness and Helplessness, Compassion and Acceptance and Reconciliation. CONCLUSION: It became clear to us that wives of individuals diagnosed with Bipolar I Disorder are on a continuous emotional journey dealing with the burden, stress, complications, uncertainty and making many sacrifices along the way. Our study highlighted many culture specific factors of the phenomenon. This insightful exploration has opened up new horizons to conceptualize the challenges of wives dealing with an ailing spouse in the context of a Pakistani society.

Caregiver Burden, Spirituality, and Psychological Well-Being of Parents Having Children with Thalassemia.

The research determined the relationship of caregiving burden, spirituality and psychological well-being of parents of Pakistani thalassemic patients in a crosssectional research design. The sociodemographic form, Montgomery-Borgatta burden measure (Montgomery et al. in Who should care for the elderly? An east-west value divide. World Scientific, River Edge, pp 27-54, 2000), Multidimensional Measure of Islamic Spirituality (Dasti and Sitwat in J Muslim Ment Health 8(2):47-67, 2014. doi: 10.3998/jmmh.10381607.0008.204 ) and Ryff Scale of Psychological Well-being (Ryff in J Pers Soc Psychol 57(6):1069-1081, 1989. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.57.6.1069 ) were administered on a sample of 80 parents (32 fathers and 48 mothers) recruited from different Thalassemic Centers of Lahore city, Pakistan. Data were analyzed through correlation and mediational analyses. Results indicated that the caregiver burden was negatively correlated with the psychological well-being and the domains of spirituality, while the psychological well-being and spirituality were positively correlated. We identified that the caregiver burden has direct effect on the psychological well-being of the parents and it influences the psychological well-being through the pathway of the two domains of spirituality, i.e., self-discipline and meanness-generosity. These results highlighted the role of spirituality upon the psychological well-being of caregivers, which could be utilized to prevent pathological influences (such as hard feelings, hopelessness, depressed mood, anxiety, and relationship problems) of caregiver burden and enhance psychological well-being through spiritual counseling. Caregivers can work on their well-being and burden by disciplining their lives and forgoing hard feelings toward others.

Poly-victimization and mental health of street children in Lahore city.

BACKGROUND: Street children are vulnerable to a number of problems throughout their lives. Poly-victimization covers the different domains of the difficulties they face on streets, it is also notable to find out the impact of poly-victimization on the mental health of street children. AIMS: The purpose of the study was to examine the relationship between poly-victimization and mental health in street children of Lahore city. It was hypothesized that there is likely to be a predictive relationship between poly-victimization and mental health of street children. METHODS: Through purposive sampling a sample of 77 street boys was collected from Lahore city, with the help of three government and private organizations working with street children. Sample included only boys within the age range of 9-13 years (M = 10.66, SD = 1.26) who have been residing on streets for more than one month. Juvenile Victimization Questionnaire and Mental Health Inventory were used for assessment of poly-victimization and mental health respectively. RESULTS: The results indicated that poly-victimization positively predicted the psychological distress and negatively predicted psychological wellbeing in street children. CONCLUSION: The most common type of victimization was conventional crime which negatively predicts mental health of street children. The results have important implications for the policy makers to develop improved services for this vulnerable group.