Adult Sibling Relationships: Perspectives of Service Users with Mental Health Difficulties

Abstract

Little is known about the perceptions of sibling relationships from the direct perspective of service users with mental health difficulties; this study aimed to address this gap. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with adult male inpatients who had severe and enduring mental health difficulties. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyse the data and revealed three main themes: (1) The closeness of the sibling bond; (2) The change in sibling dynamics following diagnosis and admission; (3) Siblings’ contribution to mental health and recovery. The implications of involving siblings in care and the benefits of service user led research are discussed.

Acknowledgements

This work would not have been possible without the willingness and commitment of the individuals who kindly gave up their time to talk about their experiences. I would like to thank every participant for their invaluable contributions to the research; know that your input will give other individuals within mental health services a voice. I would also like to thank Cygnet Health Care for the fantastic opportunity to complete this research and for all the support and feedback I received from the Cygnet Health Care Research and Development team. I feel privileged to have worked within Cygnet Health Care and commend all of the hard work and achievements of staff within the service. Thanks to Dr Bobbie Eke and Dr Sarah Kriakous for your advice, feedback and support throughout the process. I am especially indebted to Dr Michael Petalas, who has supported me every step of the journey and has given me the confidence to pursue this research paper. I cannot thank you enough for your relentless encouragement and all your professional guidance/contributions to the paper. Without you, this research would not have been a reality.

Declaration of interest

The findings of this research have been reviewed by Cygnet Health Care and the practitioner recommendations have been adopted by Cygnet Health Care male mental health rehabilitation services. Both authors have substantially contributed to conducting the research and drafting this manuscript and neither has a conflict of interest, financial or otherwise. This paper has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration by another journal. Both authors and representatives from Cygnet Health Care have approved of and have agreed to submit the manuscript to this journal.