Waddell Elaine, Pulvirenti Mariastella, Lawn Sharon
Flinders University, South Australia, Australia
Flinders University, South Australia, Australia.
Qual Health Res. 2016 Oct;26(12):1603-13. doi: 10.1177/1049732315601398. Epub 2015 Sep 1.
There is limited literature on the experience of caring for an intimate partner with a mental health condition. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common mental health condition for military veterans; yet, little is known about how partners experience and cope with these caring relationships. Using an interpretive phenomenological approach, we collected data through individual interviews with 20 female partners of male veterans diagnosed with PTSD living in South Australia. We found the emotional features of caring to be directly derived from the strength of commitment these carers had to their relationships. We show that lack of understanding of carers' lives, particularly by health providers and government, has resulted in a sense of social disconnect and invisibility that has contributed to stress and is a barrier to coping. Of vital importance to these carers was that partners of younger veterans should not have to suffer the same experiences.
关于照顾患有精神健康问题的亲密伴侣的经历，相关文献有限。创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）是退伍军人常见的精神健康问题；然而，对于伴侣如何体验和应对这些照顾关系，我们知之甚少。采用解释现象学方法，我们通过对20名居住在南澳大利亚、其男性伴侣被诊断患有PTSD的女性伴侣进行个体访谈来收集数据。我们发现，照顾的情感特征直接源于这些照顾者对其关系的承诺强度。我们表明，特别是医疗服务提供者和政府对照顾者生活缺乏了解，导致了一种社会脱节感和被忽视感，这加剧了压力，成为应对的障碍。对这些照顾者至关重要的是，年轻退伍军人的伴侣不应遭受同样的经历。
