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elilith
Casual Contributor

Trying to balance my own health and caring for my dad

I'm 34 and my dad was diagnosed with schizophrenia before I was born so I have lived with his illness my whole life. And all the challenges that come with it. 

I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 (after being misdiagnosed for years with depression) 12 years ago. 

I guess because I'm getting older, the reality of my dads situation is becoming more apparent. He only has his mum who is elderly and exhausted, and his sister who isn't in the greatest position to care for him. 

his ongoing care will be undertaken by me, and I guess I'm unsure where to start? He was stable for quite a while but the last 2 years have been ROUGH. I'm trying to help him as much as possible and making those hard calls whilst also respecting his freedom and desire to have some semblance of control in some part of his life. 

I don't even know what the purpose of this post was 😂 I've enquired about a local MH support group for myself and am looking for carers options etc to cover that part too. 

4 REPLIES 4

Re: Trying to balance my own health and caring for my dad

Hello @elilith 

Caring for someone with Sz can be demanding.

 

As soon as practical getting your dad to give permission for health professionals to be able to liaise with you is important, hopefully he will do this as even for people without MI this can be a challenge (does he have an advance care directive?)

 

As you would no doubt be aware, having someone on your side who will speak up for you is important.  I don't know how it is with Sz, but things were a lot better for Mr Darcy & I when we worked as a team. For most people with Sz both medication and social supports are necessary and outsourcing as much of this as possible through NDIS / My Aged Care will help give you a break if you can get your Dad to apply. There are a number of MH support groups that help both patients and carers, some have specific experience and expertise with Sz clients.

 

Looking after your own health is important, there are a lot of self care resources on this forum. There are a number of people on this forum who have a diagnosis who are also caregivers.

Re: Trying to balance my own health and caring for my dad

@elilith 

Are there particular areas that you struggle with? We have different discussion threads where we gently encourage one another to declutter, eat healthy etc. I am happy to tag you 😁.

Re: Trying to balance my own health and caring for my dad

Thanks @Former-Member  for tagging the forums I may find useful! Really appreciate you taking the time to respond aswell.

I'm really not sure what im struggling with the most. knowing where/how to start. I dont want to step on anyones toes - so to speak - but I want him to have the best care and options available for him. He's had a few addmitals to hospital over the last 6 months or so too. 
He did recently get put on a new med (that he had been asking to try for a long time) so thats a step in a positive direction and I know he's feeling 'heard' by his dr which is my biggest thing for him. 
Im not sure if he has any apps or contact with the NDIS, i dont think he does but I could be wrong. Trying to take care from others is a tricky situation to be in haha. I know my nan is happy to hand the reigns over but its still a delicate situation. 

Re: Trying to balance my own health and caring for my dad

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you life has .. well im sure you know how it goes. 
Happy to update that my dad did have a change in medication which i helped him advocate for and has responded really well to it! he has also quit smoking which he is super proud of and so we are taking everything in baby steps to introduce other healthy habits slowly and see how we go 
Fingers crossed but its an incredibly unpredictable illness (and always has been with him) so easy does it 

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