Walking through the storm side-by-side with family members whose relatives are having mental illness

If your loved ones are found to be suffering from mental illness, how are you going to face it?

"Knowing how to respect them, accept the fact that they are sick and move on, and at the same time, love and cheer the people around you…" Ms Yiu Lai-fong, the vice-chairperson of Family Network, which is a self-help group organised by the family members of the Association’s service users, comes up with the perfect answer.

Ms Yiu’s younger brother is a person with mental illness. Despite the fact that the path of recovery from mental illness is destined to be a tough and less-than-rewarding one, Ms Yiu was determined to walk with her brother through the valley of darkness. With the care and support of medical professionals, social workers and family members, her brother made his recovery eventually and was able to regain his self-esteem, self-confidence and rejoin the workforce. These are all important factors that help people suffering from mental illness to recover. Having himself tasted the loving kindness from family members, Ms Yiu’s brother encouraged her to join “Family Network” to support and help other fellow service users and family members to establish mutual support among themselves, thereby to weather the storms together.

Pain may not just bring grief and groan alone. It may also bring us the opportunities for growth and reflection on life - that’s what Ms Yiu has learned since she joined Family Network as one of the committee members. Misfortune is sometimes the best trainer in life, teaching us the meaning of “living here and now”. And we all need to learn the simple truth that life is not perfect. In times of troubles, the most effective way to reclaim respect and the right to a better life, as Ms Yiu believes, is to persevere with passion and faith and be an encouragement to the family. The positive and optimistic attitudes of Ms Yiu made her the candle in her family, light them up while struggling through the dark moments together. Such positive attitudes have also encouraged other members to walk with courage and become an inspiration to others.

In the course of caring for their family members who are diagnosed with mental illness, caregivers are generally enduring tremendous physical and psychological stress. Their lack of understanding of the illness is usually the major cause of conflicts and frictions in the relationship, which stresses out not only the family members but also the one who is mentally ill. This in turn hinders their recovery process. In view of such, we extend the scope of service to the family members of the mentally ill persons, so as to help them face the changes in life in a positive way and cultivate a spirit of helping each other among themselves. Together, we believe that families can journey on to a bright new world.

In 2003, we organised the first "Psycho-educate Training for the Caregivers of the People with Mental Illness". Among the participants, there was a bunch of like-minded family members who were so inspired by the workshop that they established the "Family Network" afterwards. “Family Network” was later formally registered as a non-profit organisation in 2004 in accordance with the Society Ordinance of Hong Kong. It aims to provide a continuous support network, rehabilitation information and training programmes for the family members, so as to encourage self-help and mutual-help, which in turn help alleviate the stress they bear during the recovery process of the mentally ill family members.

The "Psycho-educate Training for the Caregivers of the People with Mental Illness" has become an annual programme since its launch in 2003 as a tool to enhance the caregivers’ knowledge on mental health and strengthen their ability of taking care of their mentally ill family members. In addition to this programme, we also hold workshops and talks on mental health related issues for family members and caregivers to share their experience, enhance their skills and knowledge on caring for the mentally ill persons. A wide range of topics are covered, including different types of mental illnesses, treatment approaches, effective communication methods, ways for emotional expression, positive thinking and stress management.

Thanks to the sponsorship offered by Mindset, a charitable organisation of Jardine Matheson Group that aims at promoting mental health, we have also set up a “Stress Management and Relaxation Room” at New Life Building in 2003, for families and caregivers to relax and relieve stress through multi-sensory media. To further promote the spirit of mutual-help, Family Network established its “Family Mutual Help Club” to invite members to join the programmes organised there in every first Sunday afternoon of each month. It is an occasion where members share with each other and make friends. Besides, they also organise social and recreational activities regularly, such as Tai Chi and handicraft making classes to develop their interests and friendship.

For more information about Family Network, please visit: http://www.nlpra.org.hk/fam/page2.htm

Ample studies have already shown that people with mental illness will have a more rapid rehabilitation if they are supported by their families. Therefore, we encourage family members to participate in the individual rehabilitation plan of the people with mental illness on a regular basis, so as to enhance their understanding of the needs and difficulties faced by the mentally ill family members. Their involvement also helps people with mental illness develop independent living skills, good working habits, proper social skills and maintain stable mental condition, while at the same time promote strong family bonding. We work with family members through meetings, gatherings, social and recreational activities and discussion on the formulation of rehabilitation plans. It is hoped all these efforts will contribute to a more effective recovery of people with mental illness.

Working together with the family members, Training and Activity Centers also organise monthly activities called “Family Friends Station” to improve parent-child relationship, establish support networks among family members, as well as improve the connection and interaction between service users and their family members.