Family Based Care for Mentally Ill Patients in Sri Lanka

Mental illness is any disease or condition that influences the way a person thinks, feels, behaves, and/or relates to others and to his or her surroundings. Care for the mentally ill and the disabled has long been the main responsibility of families despite the development of alternative health service facilities. Due to the lack of mental health resources and the very limited psychological mindedness of the culture, psychiatric morbidity usually remains unrecognized and not treated. Most of the people with mental health problems do not receive care fairly and equally, and where family structures are changing. This study was possible to understand the situation of mentally ill people in Sri Lanka. This book focused to examine the impact of mental illness on the family, caring systems and coping strategies used by the family members having mentally ill patients.