Care for the Carers is the local Carers Centre for East Sussex, UK and we support anyone looking after a relative, partner or friend who couldn’t manage without their help. A carer may be providing unpaid support to someone who is ill, frail, disabled or has a mental health or substance misuse problem - every carer’s situation is different.
At Care for the Carers our team of friendly and experienced staff and volunteers offer a listening ear, information, advice and practical support. We also offer opportunities to meet others carers, join groups and share views and experiences.
We aim to improve the quality of life for carers in East Sussex and ensure that no one is left to care alone.
Thank You ❤️ it's beautiful to hear the voices and see the many different faces of the everyday people who care above and beyond whatever life was supposed to offer them ❤️💐
I'm so sorry to hear that 😶 but I understand how it feels for I have never had anyone who cares for me... I guess it's up to us to still try and care for others plus ourselves.❤️
I am a full time carer now for my 88 year old mother. She often gets very confused. Sometimes I get very frustrated. I wish I could get away for a break. But I know I can't. I doubt I could relax and forget, even for a while.
This is so true. You never stop. It feels relentless and its exhausting. It’s so hard to justify space and time for yourself. So hard to manage everything. To feel responsible for everything - there is so much to manage. And if it is your partner, things change. If you have carers helping your partner gets taken away from you into the hands of someone else and that hurts because you are the one that you want your carer to be laughing with whilst their care is done. But you are so tired, and so distant over time you start living in another reality desperate for things to be even close to how they were. You get glimpses but its never enough. Chronic pain can make people very low and negative. Take away control from someone by illness or injury and their personality adapts to it in micromanaging which it is very hard not to be sensitive to. You just want to ge things right and please them. But you cant be perfect. And you focus on being a good person which you can never be good enough. Your life shrinks. You lose touch with people and the world moves on and you miss out. Physical disabilities can keep people indoors for most of their lives. As the carer, able and well, that is your life too - most of the time unless you are food shopping or taking them to hospital appointments. You lose your identity. The care you give which seemed so loving at first - you lose your crown of goodness over time. You get lost. You don’t know what to do. You fantasize about staying in a cheap hotel where you can be alone for one night where you can be alone. To have stillness and sanity. But you know you will worry about your loved one. And wonder if being on your own is such a good idea when you feel so down and wonder who you are. You can’t justify the expense. You don’t feel you deserve it. That the money can be spent on better things. But these thoughts only last moments because before you know it - there is something else that needs to be done x100000000000.... for what feels like forever. I don’t know what the answer is. I’m not sure there is one.
I don’t get it but at the same time I do! I’m a live in carer 24/7 with a very challenging client who suffers from dementia. I feel empty but I feel guilty for feeling sad about my life when I’m supposed to be caring for the sick. There’s no support for carers unfortunately