Balancing Competing Needs: A Meta-Ethnography of Being a Partner to an Individual With a Mood Disorder

BACKGROUND: More than 20% of individuals experience a mood disorder in their lifetime. Qualitative studies have explored the experience of being a partner to an individual with a mood disorder, but these studies remain isolated pieces of a larger puzzle. AIMS: In this metasynthesis, I aimed to integrate current qualitative research to describe the experience of being a partner to an individual with a mood disorder. METHOD: A systematic search was conducted to identify qualitative research. Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnography was used to translate key metaphors from individual studies into a single set of metaphors to describe the experience. RESULTS: Results indicated that these partners are disenfranchised caregivers balancing their own needs with partners' perceived and reported needs to strive for a stasis of guarded stability. CONCLUSIONS: Future research must explore ways to support these partners and include them in the health care team.