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How are your relationships?
Some carers get a lot of support from family and friends, but others don't. Caring for someone may change the way you are able to spend time with the rest fo your family. It may change your relationship with your partner or children.You might like to try this exercise to see if you can improve the situtation for yourself.
- Read through the suggestions below about what you might need. Do any fit your situation? Make a note of the things you feel you need at the moment.
- What else would you add to your list of needs?
- Who can help? For each point that you have made a note of - try to write a name of someone you could talk to or ask for help. This might be a family member, a friend, neighbour, church, health or social services professional or carers support worker.
I need:
- acceptance of the person I care for, for who they are
- company for the person I look after, apart from me
- help with practical tasks
- social contact that will take me right away from caring for a few hours
- someone I can feel close to
- someone to do odd jobs
- someone to help with the daily routine
- someone to laugh with, and have fun with
- someone to listen
- someone who really understands what I'm going through
- to feel valued
- to talk without inhibitions about how I'm feeling
You may have identified a need to contact some people as a result of this. Why not decide to contact one or two of them. It may be helpful, at first, to plan out what you'd like to say to them.
Have a think about:
- Who they are
- What you will say to them
- What you'd like from them
- When you'll do it
You can get more information from:
www.family-action.org.uk - Family Action works to tackle some of the most complex and difficult issues facing families today – including financial hardship, domestic abuse, mental health problems, learning disabilities, or substance misuse and alcohol problems.
There are peope who can help