Carers Week Live Chat // What do you wish you knew when you were a new 'carer' // LIVE NOW!

[YogaforCarers]

Thanks for asking. We're finding lots of carers know they "should" practice self-care, but don't.  Could you talk about what has made you realise the importance of looking after yourself, and what motivates you to actually practice it. Thank you!

[NikNik]

Wow - so have been a carer for a long time!

You touched on 'self care' in your first post tonight - you went for a walk this afternoon 🙂 We see  alot of talk about 'self care' within these forums - but what does it mean to you?

I'm also curious what others classify as 'self care'.... @YogaforCarers yours is a bit of a give away

[YogaforCarers]

(Now it's me working out the technology - sorry for the double post!)

[Kisia]

Hi @MissyD, the start of being a carer can certainly be overwhelming but believe me it does get easier! The world does settle down in time. And yes people with all forms of mental illness including bipolar can have good conversations and get back to reasonable thinking. Im not a psychiatrist but the chatic thoughts and exagerated thinking is a symptom, with treatment, support and time he can learn to manage that better. 

[Janna]

Hi.  I'm a mum of an adolescent with mental health issues.  One of the hardest things for me was actually identifying myself as a carer.  I was just a mum.  Mother's are notorius for not indulging in much self-care because we feel guilty for doing something four ourselves.  So for me it's only been very recently that I actually shifted my mindset from being a mum to being a mum and a carer.  Self-care is very hard to fit into life sometimes, but I'm consciously aware of the need to look after myself now and try where possible to just do something "selfish" - like go for a massage 🙂

[pete70]

well done to you for having a quick strategy in place when caring for you mum. it does take a bit of working out sometimes and is great to be able to talk concerns over with someone

[Kisia]

Yea@NikNik @YogaforCarers self-care it a statement that gets thrown around but its really just the things we do for our mental health. We know eating right feeds our bodies and helps us stay healthy and self-care is how we feed our emotions, throughts, etc. It doesnt have to be a big effort (although there are times a long break is needed), it includes those little things you do throught the day where you think about what you need to recharge your batteries, emotionally or physically, to be able to care better and get through the difficult times. 

[Kisia]

Welcome @Janna thanks for sharing. And youre right feeling guilty is often a first reaction but its important to remember self care is how we refule psychologically, just like eating  is how we re-fule physically. I found starting with little things throught the day was important, I bought a plant to work as for a few seconds I would look at it and it would help calm me, and took the 5 minute longer route home so I had 5 more minutes to get my head together before facing what the day had for me. 

[MissyD]

Thanks. It's just hard when you hear them talk as if nothing happened, and they are planning parties and you just want them to take things easy, focus on getting well

[NikNik]

Welcome @pete70 and @Janna 🙂

In terms of self care, I think we often get 'tunnel vision' and just only focus on the person we care for... and at times we have to... but sometimes it's hard to break out of that.