The Impact of Mental and Physical Illness on Family Life
E. JAMES ANTHONY M.D.1
1 Director of the Eliot Division of Child Psychiatry and Ittleson Professor of Child Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, 369 North Taylor Ave., St. Louis, Mo. 63108
With the breakdown of the mentally ill parent, there is generally a disruption in family members and the family as a whole, followed by re-integration or disintegration depending on the family's premorbid adjustment, their previous socioeconomic and cultural level, and the severity of the parent's illness. The changes brought about by a physical illness (in this case tuberculosis) follow a similar course; in addition, the fear of contamination created in the family may result in severe disturbances in interpersonal relationships.
