AN INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL HEALTH - The Nossal Institute for ...

3 DAY Session 9:
Practice Based Skills – Part Two
Session Objective : To educate CHWs about the services and treatments available for
people experiencing mental disorders.
Session duration : 2 hours
Activity 22 : Supporting the family
Time : 45 minutes
Purpose : To teach participants how to support the family of a person with a mental
disorder.
Materials : Case study I (found in Appendix E), black/whiteboard and marker pens.
Directions : Step 1
Give a presentation based on the ‘Information for Presentation’ box
below.
INFORMATION FOR PRESENTATION
Helping families cope with mental disorder
Families often provide the majority of support and care for a person with a mental disorder
living in the community. 2
Living and caring for someone who suffers from a mental disorder can be very stressful and
it is important that families receive help and support.
Families often do not understand the symptoms of mental illness, and need information
about the problems that their family member is experiencing.
Without help in managing their own stress, families may unintentionally behave in a way
that creates more stress for the person with the mental disorder, which will have a negative
effect on his/her health. 13
Step 2
Use the following questions to generate discussion about the information
presented above.
• What might be stressful for families about having a family member
with a mental disorder?
• Why is it important that the family understand the mental disorder that
their family member is experiencing?
AN INTRODUCTION TO MENTAL HEALTH 85