This carer wishes to remain anonymous but would like to share her story with all of our members here on carersconnectint.com
I would like to tell you about the support I received from the charity Rethink: when I initially got in touch I remember feeling quite desperate and unable to cope, the best way I can describe it is …..
“I felt as if I was drowning with very little hope of reaching the surface, but my carer support worker from Rethink, not only helped me to come up for air, she gave me the necessary tools to find ‘me’ again. The one-to-one service that Rethink offers changes lives and I no longer feel like I am drowning.”
I had been caring for my daughter who developed paranoid schizophrenia for six years when I quite by accident found out about Rethink, and at that time I was at a very low ebb and I guess I didn’t realise how my own health was suffering.. . but as carers we aren’t generally very good at taking care of our own needs and we just keep going regardless.
I can honestly say that the service that Rethink offers to its carers is invaluable and it has made an enormous difference to my life. Because of this I wanted to share my story with other carers so they may benefit from the service that Rethink provides. I also met up with other carers on a monthly basis whenever I could get to the meetings and I found that chatting to other carers who were in a similar position to me gave me enormous support.
My carer support worker from Rethink offered me one-to-one support on a regular monthly basis, and we met up for coffee and a chat. I remember our first meetings when I talked about the person I care for constantly and was really not coping well at all. Of course I did not want to admit this at first. After many months and loads of coffee!! I finally began to realise that I had lost sight of ‘me’ and not only was I not taking care of my own personal and mental health needs (I became depressed and stopped taking care of my appearance and certainly didn’t eat properly) but I lost sight of my own personal goals and ambitions because my caring role consumed me.
My carer support worker from Rethink encouraged me to take time out for myself, even if it was only for a snatched hour here and there and to make time to do my make-up and hair and feel good about myself again. I set my own goals that I would aim to achieve…. and month by month I would take smaller steps towards achieving them.
I hope my story has helped other carers who are caring for someone with a mental health issue. It made a difference to my life and it can make a difference to yours too.
Helpful information from carersconnectint.com: if you want any further details about Rethink and what they offer please go to their website http://www.rethink.org
"Rethink ... working together to help everyone affected by severe mental illness, including schizophrenia, to recover a better quality of life."