Megan - The importance of supporting carers of adults with a mental health condition
Megan - Mental Health Practitioner
As a mental health practitioner I often see individuals who are supported with both practical and emotional aspects of day to day living by loved ones who expect no recognition or special treatment and tell us ‘if they’re ok, I’m ok. I just want them to get the help they need.’.
From the agoraphobic young adult who relies upon their parents to get them to appointments to the depressed individual who would not eat or take their medication regularly without the support of their loving partner, where would these people be without the support of those close to them? We see the family member who spends hours of the day or night emotionally supporting their relative in distress with high anxiety or suicidal feelings, we see those whose physical and mental health issues are hard to separate being supported by loved ones whose entire schedule is based around that person.
Some of these friends and family would define themselves as ‘carers’ and have some understanding of their rights or the support available to them but for many, this is just life, this is just what they do for someone they love and they battle on through the stress, the worry, the pressures of juggling their life, without any support or ever kicking up a fuss.
These are our silent heroes.
It’s hard to try and comprehend the pressure there would be on services without so many of these silent heroes working to keep the people they love safe and well.
This is why having services like the Carers' Centre is invaluable, somewhere for people to contact and visit for practical and emotional support for themselves, whether they want some information or training to help them better support their loved one or a support group or counsellor to talk about how they’re coping - or even just discounted access to holistic treatments and activities to give them a break from things. We want carers to know we see them, that our silent heroes are not invisible and they deserve some TLC and support for themselves while we all work together to help their loved one too.