Depression in the families of patients with psychosis.

Psychosis brings burden to the families of patients with psychosis. The Zung rating scale for depression has been used to evaluate depressive symptoms in the relatives of patients with psychosis that have been attending the 'Group with a significant other' for the last five years. When we sent the Zung rating scale for depression to the families of the schizophrenic patients' (which are or were part of the 'Group with a significant other' in the last five years), the results showed 2/3 of the patients had already become depressed due to the illness' effects. This is a much more common phenomena here than in the entire population. Cooperation within the Group has positive effects, such as reducing isolation and stigmatization, while it also works encouragingly on the emotional climate this is very important for reducing depression.