Factors Influencing Chronic Mental Illness Patients' Psychological Well Being and Suicidal Ideation

Purpose:

The purpose of this study was to exam the factors influencing chronic mental illness patients’ psychological well-being and suicidal ideation.

Methods:

There were 59 patients with chronic mental illnesses recruited from an USA Mental Health Center. The mean age of patients was 48.14 years (SD = 10.67) (Range 23-76) and 81.4% were male (n = 48). This is a descriptive cross sectional research design. The structured questionnaire was used to do the data collection. The principal investigator went to each unit and introduced this study to patients and data collection. SPSS 20 was used to do the data analysis.

Results:

The following factors had positive significant relationships with psychological well-being: spiritual well-being (r = 0.504, p < 0.001), positive personality (r = 0.663, p < 0.001), and problem focus coping strategies (r = 0.47, p < 0.001). The following factors had negative significant relationships with psychological well-being: anxiety (r = -0.393, p < 0.01), depression (r = -0.28, p < 0.05), and suicidal ideation (r = -0.485, p < 0.001). The following factors had positive significant relationships with suicidal ideation: anxiety (r = 0.412, p < 0.001) and depression (r = 0.472, p < 0.001). The following factors had negative significant relationships with suicidal ideation: spiritual well-being (r = -0.329, p < 0.01), and problem focus coping strategies(r = -0.343, p < 0.01).

Conclusion:

Increasing spiritual well-being, positive personality, and problem focus coping strategies will increase psychological well-being and decrease suicidal ideation. Decreasing anxiety and depression will also increase psychological well-being and decrease suicidal ideation. It is vital to understand mental illness patients’ personality and improve their spiritual well-being in order to prevent their suicidal ideation. There is a limitation in the generalizability because of the small sample size.