The purpose of this study was to explore Korean mothers' experiences of caregiving for their adult children with schizophrenia.

A iterative descriptive qualitative research design was used to understand and explain the caregiving experience from the perspective of mothers. The data were collected by individual in-depth interviews and one focus group interview from 11 mothers. The ages of the participants ranged from 50 to 60 years old and the ages of their sick children ranged from late 20s to early 40s.

Three major themes were identified from qualitative thematic analysis: (a) “emotional debris from the disease,” (b) “the disease that makes mothers dumb” (c) “space of rational reason.”

This study would provide health care professionals insights in establishing intervention for mothers by deeply understanding the process of recognition and acceptance of their children with schizophrenia.