For printer friendly document complete with footnotes (not included in this post) click here. ABSTRACT The changing role of the family and how the family unit may help or harm a disturbed and/or disturbing member is examined. The authors use their personal experiences as mental health professionals, user/survivors and family members to inform their critique. A brief history of family involvement – how the family has been perceived and worked with by mental health professionals – is followed by a description of present day practices. The paper concludes with speculation about alternatives in which quality of life for all of the family members may be more possible. INTRODUCTION The role of nuclear families in helping or hindering the recovery process is the canvas upon which we will examine what has been done, what is being done now, and what might be done to support and nurture the untapped potential of this primary resource. Just as the construct “mental illness” invokes considerable debate and has generated numerous hypotheses, the role of families in the aetiology of mental illness and the estimated influence families have in their relatives’ recovery continues to be a controversial issue. Activism and advocacy efforts by families and those who have been diagnosed and treated for major mental illness have adopted antagonistic positions in regard to the causation and the nature of the condition, decisions about treatment, risk/safety, rights and forced treatment. What is consistent and beyond question is how unprepared all members of the family are for the confusion, fear and emotional pain that awaits them when one of them elects to exit or falls off the acceptable beaten path he or she is expected to follow. This paper is a collaborative effort that is informed by the lived expertise of three individuals who draw from their personal experience as psychiatric survivors, family members and from their work as mental Continue Reading…