Family Reintegration Issues of Mentally-Ill Patients Residing at Thiaroye Psychiatric Hospital

From the examinations of six mentally-ill patients who have been residing for many years inside the hospital and of two others who return to the hospital after every discharge, the authors try to investigate the factors underlying these family reintegration issues.In addition to some symptoms the neighborhood hardly condones, such as irritability and aggression, some deviant type of behavior (alcoholism, prostitution...) seclude the patient from his family. The lack of solidarity towards his family, that occurred before his relatives noticed he was suffering from a mental illness, is often called to mind to explain the exclusion to which he is subject to. The attempts to return of these patients in their family of origin are unproductive. This could be one of the reasons explaining the great number of wandering patients. The opportunity offered by the renewed interest of public authorities for this category of patients should be seized in order to build up hosting and reintegration structures like after-care centers with the hope that this type of institution will have an approach more comprehensive than traditional care structures such as hospitals.