Family Grief and Mental Health: A Systemic,Contextual and Compassionate Analysis |
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Authors: | Jeff Young Glenn Bailey Pam Rycroft |
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Institution: | 1. Jeff Young: (left), Community Program Manager, The Bouverie Centre, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne. Address for correspondence: The Bouverie Centre, 50 Flemington Street, Flemington Victoria 3031. Email: j.young@latrobe.edu.au.;2. Glenn Bailey: (right), Carer, Breathwork Practitioner, Lillian Rock, NSW.;3. Pam Rycroft: (centre), Clinical Program Manager, The Bouverie Centre, School of Public Health, La Trobe University, Melbourne. |
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Abstract: | Although not always named, grief is central to the experience of mental illness — for people diagnosed, their families and their friends. Yet grief is almost absent from the literature and practice of mainstream psychiatry. This curious fact led to the writing of this article by two workers and a carer, with editorial and political advice from a consumer, as a small step in the direction of integrating perspectives of workers, carers and consumers. It examines the nature of grief associated with mental illness, its impact on family members, and why mainstream mental health services do not directly address it, with suggestions for some therapeutic ways to conceptualise and work with it. |
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