Struggling at the moment - Advice/strategies

Hi

I understand how you are feeling. I am 59 and my 30 year old son has mental health issues. Like you I am exhausted emotionally and have withdrawn from social life almost completely. I don't have the answers but you are not alone and talking to others in similar situations is helpful. Are there any groups in your area that you could attend and share your issues? Waking in the fresh air helps me, I always feel a bit better when I am away from the situation for a short while. Your development will have been affected by your mums issues so counselling may be useful in areas of relationship and socialising etc. Please reply if you wish to, I am happy to chat any time

jayne

Hello @Sonny1, @Jayne2, and welcome to the forum

Like you I am exhausted emotionally and have withdrawn from social life almost completely.

you are not alone my friends , I find it hard to find a good balance as my husband has MI and also looking after my mum who is 86 and very frail and independent person

what do you do for your own self care , you need to look after yourself to look after others , I am still learning

what things do you like doing , i find doing small selfcare each day works better for me

also what does you mum like to do , my mum loves gardening and crossword puzzles ( I get told I should not let my mum do the garden ) but she is happy

Hello @meherenow , how are you tonight my friend xx

Hi @Jayne2

Thank you so much for your kind email. I hope that you are doing well. It is so tough at times. Thank you for your support. I think it's just nice to know that you are not alone and that people actually care. I will have a look around to see if there are any groups in my area. I have found that I have had to take a bit of a step back for a little while and look after myself, otherwise I am no use to anyone. I took some time out for myself on Monday night after a local jazz festival and hung out with some friends at the end of festival jazz jam. It was great and filled me up. Thank you againg for your support and aknowledegement. I do appreciate it. Cheers Cindy

Hi @Shaz51

Thank you so much for your message, kind words and support. It's so hard to socialise when you feel so empty. I take my hat off to you looking after 2 of your loved ones. It's so nice to know that we are not alone in this and can support each other. I find these forums very helpful.

Selfcare - I try to find things that I like to do all of the time. I find exercise really helpful, journalling and music.

Like you I am starting to focus on the things that my mum enjoys doing rather than pushing the ones that she doesn't - like going to the pool and walking rather than just walking and she is cleaning up her house alot more now so i'm just helping where I can at the moment.

Thank you again for your kind words and support hope that you are doing well too.

Take care.

@meherenow

Thank you for your kind and helpful words. This is very helpful. Thank you. Cheers Cindy

yes @Sonny1 , Balance is the key , which is soo hard at times

and when you are told what you should do is hard too , Like my mum had major surgery to remove 15 inches of dead bowel , in february and went down to 39 kgs

take care my friend