Distressing behaviour of schizophrenics at home.

The care of mentally ill people at home is being encouraged nowadays. As a result, the family members feel an increased burden of care and find it difficult to cope with the care of a schizophrenic patient at home. We interviewed the relatives of 62 schizophrenics systematically regarding the behaviour of the patients that was perceived to be distressful. This was done using the Scale for Assessment of Family Distress. It was noted that behaviours related to activity and self-care were perceived to be most distressful, and not aggressive or psychotic behaviour. Distress was more often reported by younger relatives and those with more education. The findings have implications in planning appropriate family intervention methods.