[Psychosocial Place And Experience Of Relatives Of Schizophrenics Followed At The Addiction And Mental Hygiene Service Of Abidjan (Sahm)].

The occurrence of schizophrenia in a family member does not only affect the patient, it has an impact on the entire family sphere. In view of this reality, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study involving a sample of 132 relatives of schizophrenic patients in Abidjan. The results of this study showed that.

-In the majority of cases (87.13%), family caregivers of schizophrenic patients were members of the nuclear family. These family carers who provided most of the care, worked for more than half (57.58%) of them in the informal sector, had at 72.22% a monthly income of less than 100,000 CFA francs (152,7 euro). All of our survey participants said they receive no outside help.

- In terms of degree of involvement of relatives, it appears that parents and siblings were the most involved at 78.29% in drug costs, at 73.49% in monitoring therapeutic compliance and at 61, 36% in providing assistance with the daily needs of their loved one with schizophrenia.

- Among the difficulties encountered by relatives in the care of schizophrenics, those with the highest frequencies are those of stigmatization (77.78%), financial exhaustion (73.33%), the fragility of health (62.22%), difficulties related to bed and food (53.33%) and lack of time for oneself (46.67%).

- The main psychological reactions recorded at the announcement of the diagnosis of schizophrenia among our respondents were: sadness (88.89%); discouragement (86.67%) and stress (77.78%). It was however noted that during the follow-up of the patients, the main attitudes recorded by our participants in the face of this situation were: reinforcement of affection (52.67%) and moral support (35.11%).