Talking to Families about Mental Illness: What Clinicians Need to Know

A clinician's guide to understanding and responding to the concerns of family members whose loved one suffers from mental illness. Will he always need medication? How should I explain his illness to the children? What should I say to him to be supportive? How should I behave? A diagnosis of a mental illness can change a person forever—indeed, in some cases it can affect the rest of the life course. It can also have a deep and lasting impact on those close to them. Loving and caring, but often fr