Women with schizophrenia and broken marriages--doubly disadvantaged? Part I: patient perspective.

This is a qualitative study of 76 women with schizophrenia whose marriages had broken. The sample was drawn from three different centres. Using qualitative methods of exploration, information regarding their illness, the marriage and its separation and the various consequences of this event was gathered. Many of them had not separated legally and were not receiving any maintenance from their husbands. Their concerns centred around their future, the fact they would be a burden to their ageing parents and in some cases about their children. Stigma attached to separation was as poignant as that of being mentally ill, if not more. However, a striking aspect was that even after several years of separation, these women still harboured a lot of hope that they would be able to reunite with their husbands.