Famille et schizophrénie : processus de résilience face à la maladie mentale d’un membre dans la ville de Douala

Abstract

Schizophrenia is a psychological, relational, and social ordeal that affects not only the person diagnosed but also the entire family system. This article analyzes the processes through which certain families with a member diagnosed with schizophrenia manage to maintain or rebuild a functional balance despite the traumatic experience of the illness. The study adopts a mixed-methods approach that is predominantly clinical and qualitative. Data were collected in Douala through semi-structured interviews, clinical observations, and standardized scales, including the Wagnild and Young Resilience Scale, the Davidson Trauma Scale, and Brunet’s Peritraumatic Distress Inventory. The results highlight a diversity of family profiles: families F1, F4, and F5 exhibit high resilience; family F2 exhibits moderate resilience; while family F3 exhibits low resilience. These results indicate that family resilience is built primarily around three processes: mentalization, which helps make sense of the crisis; resilience support systems, which provide emotional, social, or institutional support; and intellectualization, which transforms raw emotion into organized thought. It follows that a family’s resilience in the face of schizophrenia depends on its ability to understand the illness, maintain family bonds, mobilize support, and psychologically process the traumatic experience.