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Helping family with mental health

Clara7New Contributor27 May 2025, 1:35 pm AEST

Helping family with mental health

Hi. I am struggling to help my 25 year old daughter with her mental health. She was recently diagnosed with ad/hd,depression,anxiety, and PTSD. I am pretty much her only source of support. She has lost nearly all her friends due to her condition. It is crushing me, seeing her struggle, constantly sad, unable to cope with life, not being able to change her situation. I am keeping her afloat alone and I don’t know if I’m doing things right. It’s affecting my health and my life. I know I must self care to be strong for her and I try to do that but caring for her requires so much time and energy. I need direction and help to help her. Feeling lost and helpless.

Am I enabling her or supporting her? It’s a very complex situation.

4 replies

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In response to: Helping family with mental health

Ru-beeModerator27 May 2025, 3:53 pm AEST

Re: Helping family with mental health

Hi @Clara7 and welcome to the forums.

Firstly, I just want to acknowledge how difficult this situation must be for both you and your daughter. It's wonderful that you're able to be there to support her, but to be the only support is a lot of pressure, and as you've mentioned here, it makes it very difficult for you to be able to focus on your own needs.

When you say that you're her only support, am I correct in understanding that she doesn't have any professional supports in place?

In response to: Helping family with mental health

snowflake231Senior Contributor27 May 2025, 4:37 pm AEST

Re: Helping family with mental health

@Clara7

What a tough situation. I supported my teenage daughter through some horrendous mental health issues and it is draining and lonely. I'm here if you need to chat.
have you tried headspace. I found the chat line helpful. There are resources available but they are hard to find. Places like headspace can direct you.

In response to: Helping family with mental health

mazza3Contributor27 May 2025, 6:44 pm AEST

Re: Helping family with mental health

You are not alone, I am in a similar position and yes it's lonely.
Self care for me and seeing a counsellor has helped me but there are times I also feel lost. I'm happy to pass on any resources that may help or just have a conversation.

In response to: Re: Helping family with mental health

Clara7New Contributor28 May 2025, 9:33 am AEST

Re: Helping family with mental health

Hi!

Thank you for caring. My daughter has been talking with counsellors through the free mental healthcare system but they don’t seem to help much. She stopped with her last one as they were not understanding what she needed and now I am trying to negotiate finding a paid one. That in itself is another challenge, getting her re started and making it happen. She recently started Ad/hd medication but it’s not working at all. What she needs ( and me) is to find friends that she is not “ too much “ for. She is very social and interactive and needs to share her feelings to cope better with life. She needs support on a personal level. But for her the simple acts of everyday life are overwhelming- just feeding herself, washing etc and doing part time work are not coped with well. I have tried everything and am basically her part time career and full time emotional support at this point.
I have begun seeing a counsellor who suggested this site. Honestly not sure what I’m doing but thought I’d reach out and see how others are coping too, at least not feel alone and maybe relieve some burden from my small support circle. Thank you again for your response. Wishing you well in whatever your situation is.

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