Caring for patients with drug use disorders in Yangon region, Myanmar : Socioeconomic and psychological burden and coping strategies

Abstract

Drug use disorders are considered chronic illnesses, like other severe mental disorders, and caregivers of drug users face a large impact on various aspects of their life. However, there is shortage of research in Myanmar about caregivers’ experiences with caring for patients with drug use disorders. This mixed method study, therefore, aims at exploring the socioeconomic and psychological burden caregivers carry, the coping strategies they employ, as well as the barriers to coping they face. The results of the framework analysis revealed that financial loss, productivity loss, social limitation and negative impact on family members are important dimensions of socioeconomic burden. Sadness, anger, worry, fear and guilt were main psychological distress factors encountered by caregivers of patients with drug use disorders. The strong positive correlation between caregiver stress level and the addiction severity of patients reinforced the qualitative findings. Religious coping, financial coping, acceptance and planning were commonly used coping strategies by the caregivers. Moreover, perceived stigma towards patients and caregivers was very high and the caregivers received hardly any social and financial support from the government or any other organization in Myanmar. The results of this study show that caring for patients with drug use disorders has devastating effects on caregivers and their families. Therefore, reforming existing drug policy, and strengthening drug abuse prevention and treatment programs and campaigns should be considered a priority.