"It's like a kind of chronic pain that goes with you": Understanding the phenomenon of family burden as experienced by primary caregivers of persons with serious mental illness who refuse treatment.

The findings demonstrate the unique family burden experienced by the caregivers, mainly as they are the only ones supporting the individual with SMI who refuses treatment. Practitioners should support these families throughout their coping process-from understanding the reasons for the refusal of treatment to continuous support in their daily coping by locating the control of the situation on the family level. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).