Half of all mental illness carers also suffer

Half of all mental illness carers also suffer: survey : "'Over 50 per cent of people caring for a family member with a mental illness report much worse physical and mental health themselves, because of the lack of support they receive in that role,' he said."

families with people with mental illness do suffer. It's not just the lack of support. It's the constant, ongoing pressure of dealing with the illness...the moods, the medication, the erratic behaviour, the lack of behaviour. Mental illness is not a constant. Families members can be confronted with all sorts of behaviours on a daily basis and sometimes they are totally locked out of the process because it's between the consumer and the medical support. So they then have to operate as a fall back family member when the system is not there and then become tied up either in silence and lack of information or complete exclusion because of privacy and advocacy protocol. The family members are often there when no one else is. They are often the ones who can bring the person back to some sort of normality. It is worse when the consumer is dealing with a number of different medical professionals and it difficult when they are told their experience and knowledge is no relevant or wanted. It is a very difficult balancing act because sometimes the consumer just needs to be away from everyone and everything but that then means the family has no contact and is left. It has improved because people in general are getting a better understanding of mental illness and what that might mean. That's thanks to sites like SANE, Reach out and Beyond Blue. The more we talk and look at tit the better we shall get...because it is a community issue and something we need to work on together as a team.