Family, the nest of suffering: Explanation the lived experiences of clients with psychiatric disorder of family stigma

Introduction: People with psychiatric disorders are recognized as a minority group who are socially considered as discriminated, ridiculed, and rejected. There are many sources of stigma for psychiatric patients, which is the most important of them is family members. Since the impact of family stigma on these patients has many undesirable consequences, the aim of this study is to understand the experiences of psychiatric patients due to the family stigma. Materials and Methods: This study is a hermeneutic phenomenology. It was performed on twelve clients with a psychiatric disorder who were selected by purposeful sampling method in 2017. During this study, unstructured interviews were used to collect data, and the data analysis process was interpretive phenomenology proposed by Dieckelmann et al. (1989). Results: “Family, the nest of suffering" is the main theme of this study, which includes three sub-themes: "gray family look", "fear of disclosure", and "hell life", and their common supporting meanings. Conclusion: Being known as a psychiatric patient in the family makes the patients of this study not count as a dignified human being. Family members also have behaviors such as distance, fear, disgust, ridicule, being ignored and unwilling to live with them. The results of this study can also help to shape interventions and policies to prevent family stigma against the people with psychiatric disorders.