PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING OF RELATIVES OF PATIENTS DIAGNOSED WITH PSYCHOTIC DISORDERS IN NEURO-PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITALS IN SOUTH-WEST NIGERIA

Psychological well-being

Abstract

Background:

The psychological well-being of relatives of patients diagnosed with psychotic disorder poses a great challenge and distress to them because of the sacrifices that need to be made physically, financially, spiritually, socially, mentally, and psychologically. It takes a toll on them as they would want to balance caring for their relatives and also see to their health but unfortunately, the experience depletes their own quality of life. Hence, the study assessed the stressors militating against the psychological well-being of relatives of patients diagnosed with psychotic disorder admitted to Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Yaba, Lagos State.

Methodology:

A descriptive survey design was used and 74 relatives were recruited using complete enumeration. Adapted standardized instruments of Ryff’s Psychological Well-being and F- COPES scale were used in collecting data from the respondents. The instrument’s internal consistency was tested using Cronbach’s alpha which yielded 0.78. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25 was used. Descriptive statistics such as percentages, tables, and figures were used to present the result and inferential statistics was at a 0.05 level of significance. Chi-Square was used to analyze the hypothesis

Results:

Findings revealed that 29(39.2) had low, 32(43.2) had Normal and 13(17.6) had high levels of psychological well-being same was measured on a 40-point reference scale. The result of the hypothesis showed that the socio-demographic variables of the respondents did not significantly affect their psychological well-being. However, there were other militating stressors that contributed to their low, normal, or high psychological well-being. 

Conclusion:

The study has recognized that, if measures are put in place by nurses and another multi-disciplinary team to tackle the stressors of these relatives’ psychological well-being, their quality of life will be improved physically and mentally.

Recommendations:

Awareness in the form of intervention be done for relatives of patients diagnosed with psychotic disorder.