Abstract:

Family members provide important care for individuals with mental disorders but experience many unmet information needs. Here, we review literature from various disciplines regarding the information needs and sources used by relatives of individuals with depressive disorders, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, and other psychotic disorders. The literature shows that family members of individuals living with mental disorders need information on symptoms, diagnosis, treatments, and daily management as well as mental health services and legal information. To meet these needs, family members seek information from health care providers, other families dealing with the same issues, health information websites and social media, and their own friends and family. The synthesis of this literature sheds light on the sizable and complex information needs of family members dealing with mental disorders and has direct implications for library collections and programming aimed at facilitating access to trustworthy information on mental disorders and enhancing mental health literacy.