Strategies for coping with family members of patients with mental disorders

OBJECTIVE: to identify the coping strategies of family members of patients with mental disorders and relate them to family member sociodemographic variables and to the patient's clinical variables. METHOD: this was a descriptive study conducted at a psychiatric hospital in the interior of the state of São Paulo, with 40 family members of hospitalized patients over the age of 18, and who followed the patient before and during hospitalization. We used tools to characterize the subjects and the Folkman and Lazarus Inventory of Coping Strategies. RESULTS: the coping strategies most often used by family members were social support and problem solving. Mothers and fathers used more functional strategies (self-control p=0.037, positive reappraisal p=0.037, and social support p=0,021). We found no significant differences between the strategies and other variables examined. CONCLUSION: despite the suffering resulting from the illness of a dear one, family members make more use of functional strategies, allowing them to cope with adversities in a more well-adjusted way.