Friends, Family & Carers Forum

[Tim_YPA]

@Tictac I'm happy you bought up the topic of professional carers, as this is something I hear from a lot of carers in all different situations. Because there are people who do caring roles as a professional job, it does make it hard to then define our space as family/friends/support people. However, I remember at a conference I went to in Tassie last year someone said that 'informal carers' save the Tassie economy nearly $6billion every year!!!! So, I think what we do is super valuable for the people we support but also the broader community. 

[Tictac]

Well @nashy  stigma is particularly important to me because the first person about I told about the diagnosis was my payroll officer at work, as I had to take time off during a particularly bad week of psychosis. As soon as I'd used the word psychosis, her first response was "don't be afraid to call the police" which was really upsetting. So yeah it's very important to me to make sure friends, families and colleagues understand that schizophrenia isn't what it looks like in the movies!

[nashy]

Yes so very important to touch on the fact that mental health caring duties themselves, can then trigger mental health symptoms in the carer's, especially younger carer's who are also dealing with their own developmental milestones, @Faith-and-Hope  thank you so much for highlighting this

[nashy]

@Shaz51  Thank you so much for being open about your experience with your Husband and Mum. How do you feel about your husband not defining you as his carer? Do you prefer being his supporter/advocate?  

[Tim_YPA]

HI @Faith-and-Hope 

Thank you for sharing your experience. For me, I've experienced mental illness (depression & anxiety mainly) while also caring for my mum, which was challenging. I found that it was really hard to reach out to support services for myself because that wasn't 'my role.' It took me a long time and a lot of searching to find a psychologist who was able to recognise the challenge I was having with these dual identities and support me in managing my own mental health while also being a carer. I think having a care team who can understand the complexities of every unique situation and doesn't try and apply a 'cookie cutter' idea of mental health to the situation is really important. 

[nashy]

Yeah it definitely isn't what the movies tends to portray! Which can be unhelpful to the community at times Good on you for advocating, it may feel like a small ripple but it does make a decent difference to society's perception of complex mental health over time. @Tictac 

[Shaz51]

Do you prefer being his supporter/advocate? -- yes I think I do @nashy , @Tim_YPA 

[Shaz51]

Do you prefer being his supporter/advocate? -- yes I think I do @nashy , @Tim_YPA 

[nashy]

Okay all @Shaz51  @Tim_YPA  @Tictac  @Faith-and-Hope @outlander 

Moving onto question number 2! 🙂 

Following on from the notion of self-identifying as a carer. How do you manage your identity and role as a carer, with your other identities/roles (e.g. child, friend, parent)?

[Tim_YPA]

@Tictac that's such an awful experience to have. I've had many of the same, so much so that when I do need to bring it up, I just automatically launch into a lecture about mental health, and what it really is. I think things are slowly getting better though as more people are having these discussions. 

[Shaz51]

also @nashy , @Tim_YPA 

I have kidney disease stage 4 and diabetes and other health problems