Stress, Coping, and Wellbeing of the Women Spouses of Mentally Ill

Mental illness takes a toll on the family. However it is the spouse who takes the direct impact squarely on the chest and it is them who largely bears the brunt of managing the mental illness. In addition spouses of mentally ill also has the additional task of keeping the family together and taking care of everything from keeping the appointment to making the ends meet. Gender plays an important role in the appraisal of the stress and subsequent coping styles employed which in turn largely predicts the well being. Considerable differences in the perception of stress have been observed in the male and female genders by many works done in this area. These differences also tell that there will be coping styles unique to each gender which will determine the wellbeing. This study is an attempt to identify the interplay of stress perception and coping styles adopted by the two genders as caregivers to their mentally ill spouses. It also attempts to find the cumulative effect of stress and coping styles on wellbeing in both the genders with thrust on the women spouses.