Introduction

[Chelsea_S]

Good morning;

I'm a newbie to this forum. I have been reading a lot of your threads, from the carers of family or friends with depression. I have found those experiences very resourceful and beneficial to my own experiences as a wife and mother of a family with depression, anxiety disorders, sensory disorders, intellectual disability and autism. I am a positive, organised, proactive wife/mother/student however; sometimes I need reassurance and support amongst yourselves who, understand the on-going exhaustion of caring.

Thankyou for sharing your challenges and triumphs. I hope I will be able to contribute as well.

Kind regards

Chelsea.S

[Croix]

Dear Chelsea.S~

Welcome here to the Forum. You sound an amazing person, having so much to cope with - yet being a student too. I've only seen things from the other side, being the one cared for, and was even at the time in awe of my partner who worked (she was a nurse), looked after the household, our offspring and still had patience with me.

I've no idea how she manged. She did have her mum which I know was a big help. Do you have anyone to help you?

It is more than just exhausting, which can happen short term, it can have the same sort of effect as water dripping on a stone, it eats in over time, no matter how strong the person. There is so much and the buck stops with you.

Talking with others in the same situation does help, and I'm sure can help ease that feeling we all can have that we are not doing enough, are not perfect enough (both of which are downright silly)

Do you find being a student helps as a change of pace?

Croix

[geoff]

Good Morning Chelsea.S, can I offer you a warm welcome and thank you so much for your comment.

It is great to know what you have read has been a benefit being a wife, a mother of a family as well as a student.

All of this must mean a lot of organisation and determination but can be exhausting and yes, we all need support and reassurance and sometimes it's hidden or withheld, that's where we begin to feel lonely and unsure of ourselves, but what you are doing deserves appreciation, so we'd love to talk with you some more, if you have the time.

Take care.

Best wishes.

Geoff.

[romantic_thi3f]

Hi Chelsea.S,

Welcome to the forums and thanks for joining us!

Croix and Geoff have already given you a warm welcome but I thought I'd just jump in too. As a person and supporter of mental illness I have been in both sides of the boat; it's not easy sometimes, and I applaud you for getting yourself some extra support.

Although I'm a bit bias to the BeyondBlue forums (heh), one resource I'd like to recommend is Carers Australia. They have their own designated forums just for carers only where as here is a bit of a mix of both.

https://carersaustralia.saneforums.org/t5/Carers-Forum/ct-p/carers-forum

Hope you enjoy being here. Let us know if there's anything we can do to give you some support.