Backround: Many people today live with mental illness. But what is often forgotten is their families that also they will be affected. Knowledge of how families perceive their situation is of great importance to health care. This is to be able to involve family members in care and meet their needs for support, which in the long term is vital for patient recovery. Aim: To illustrate the relatives' experiences of having a loved one with mental illness. Metod: A literature study with qualitative approach. Ten articles where chosen to be read, reviewed and analyzed according to Friberg (2012a) analysis model.

Results: Two themes with eight subthemes appeared. The first theme was: Experiences of inner suffering. The theme was marked by feelings of concern, fear, shame, guilt, and sorrow. The second theme was: Experiences of increased responsibility. This revealed feelings of a wasted life, feelings of lack of knowledge and the need of confirmation. Conclusion: The result of this study shows that the need for support from health care his huge for the next of kin. The feelings of concern, fear, shame, guilt and sorrow leads to inner suffering, and can there for involve to a depression for themselves. With a few actions from the nurse, which involves to listen to the next of kin, give emotional and practical support and to give knowledge of the mental illness, there can lift a huge load of the mental stress the next of kin is feeling.