The impacts of your caring role can lead to you feeling lonely and isolated. You may feel friends don’t pop round for a chat as much, or you’re not invited to social events as much, or that it is hard to have people to confide in. You may not feel comfortable talking to friends and family about how you feel. You may feel guilty if you have negative thoughts, but this is something many carers experience and support is available.
We are here to help you look after your own emotional wellbeing while you are caring. While stress can be part of everyday life, it can make it hard to cope with the demands of caring and place extra demands on your relationships.
There is support available to you. See the information below and contact us to talk through what other support may be available.
Looking after yourself means knowing how to spot the signs of stress and depression early. Then, how to treat it. It’s not a sign of weakness or that you need to stop caring, it’s just a sign that you need to be kind to yourself.
Support with your mental health and wellbeing
You may benefit from support with your mental health, or from accessing support for the person you care for. Support is available for both of you.
For urgent help with mental health call the NHS on 111 and choose option 2.
You can talk to Samaritans anytime on 116 123, their support is not just for those who are feeling suicidal. If you are under 19 you can contact Childline about anything. Whatever your worry, it is better out than in. Call 0800 1111. You can visit the Kooth website at www.kooth.com
Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust have resources about mental health conditions available at www.nsft.nhs.uk/mental-health-conditions
If you are feeling stressed, anxious, low or depressed then WellbeingNandS are available to help. You can visit their website at www.wellbeingnands.co.uk/norfolk/ or call their non-emergency number of 0300 123 1503
Norfolk and Waveney Mind have a range of support and resources available to help whether you are managing your own mental health problem or supporting someone else with theirs. See www.norfolkandwaveneymind.org.uk/ or call 0300 330 5488
SANE provide emotional support and information to anyone affected by mental illness, including families, friends and carers. They run a national out-of-hours mental health helpline, a non-emergency email and text support service and an online forum. The Helpline can be contacted for free, between 4.30 – 10.30pm, every day of the year on 0300 304 7000 and you can find out more about the online forum and text support service at www.sane.org.uk
The Silver Line operates a 24 hour, confidential, free helpline for older people (over 55) across the UK. They also offer telephone and letter friendship schemes where they match volunteers with older people based on their interests; facilitated group calls; and help to connect people with local services in their area. You can call them on 0800 470 8090 or find out more at www.thesilverline.org.uk
CarersUK have a listening service and online forum available to carers throughout the UK. The listening service is currently available on a Monday and Tuesday 9am until 7pm. To contact Carers UK call free on 0808 808 7777 or go to www.carersuk.org to find out more about their chat room.