Emotional Distress and Resilience among Caregivers of Bipolar Disorder

Abstract

Bipolar disorder has been categorized as a serious mental illness that’s prevalent across the world and in Pakistan as well. The current study aimed to explore the level of emotional distress and resilience among caregivers of Bipolar disorder in Pakistan. It was attempted to determine the existence of a relationship between emotional distress and resilience among caregivers of Bipolar disorder, and to ascertain whether resilience plays a moderating effect among caregiving and emotional distress. Data was collected from caregivers of Bipolar disorder patients who had been diagnosed with Bipolar I or Bipolar II from local psychiatric facilities of Islamabad. The sample (N=30) comprised of 14 males and 16 females with age ranging from 18 to 80 years of age. Results of the study indicated that there exists a positive relationship (p < 0.05) of burden and depression, however no such relationship was found between resilience, burden and depression among caregivers of bipolar disorder patients. Majority of caregivers of Bipolar disorder reported moderate to severe level of burden (53.3%) and most fell under the category of depressed (80%). Despite that, resilience appeared to have no moderating effect on the relationship between caregiving, burden and depression. The findings indicate that caregivers of Bipolar disorder undergo severe levels of burden and depression due to their caregiving role. However, the effect of resilience seems minimal on these symptoms due to the high degree of distress that the caregivers experience. Limitations and recommendations for future studies are further discussed.