Day 354 – Caring for the carer, part two
Here my wonderful caring mother continues with her insight into a carers programme which is being run in Leicestershire. I hope that those of you with loved ones who experience mental health issues will find it useful.
I have been to three sessions on this ten week programme and I can say that the first was the hardest one. I did not know anyone and was feeling nervous of finding the place in Melton as well as meeting a group of people in similar circumstances as myself.
The person in charge did a good job introducing the course and asking what we hoped to get from it. The thing I most dreaded was being asked to introduce myself and a little about my situation but instead we were asked to find out some facts about our neighbour and introduce them to the group. This was much gentler.
The next session was easier to attend and was chaired by a consultant psychiatrist who led us through the difference between mental health and mental ill health.
He was very informative and repeated each step so that by the end of the session I knew a lot more about the way the psychiatrist takes on a case and the areas he looks at in taking the history.
He explained the differing ways individuals handle stress and how a person with a vulnerability to developing mental ill health can be affected by events such as a death in the family.
There was a discussion also about different ages of the child and life stages at the time of the bereavement. He also said that every one of us would develop psychosis were we sleep deprived.
Another very significant learning point for me was that the person totally believes in what he thinks is happening. Many people asked questions at the end and I think we all benefitted from hearing the question and the answer.
