I personally think when someone becomes a carer there should be some kind of help offered to you automatically. But it's not and it can be difficult to know what help is out there and most of all where to find it.
I have been my husbands carer for nearly 3yrs now. Our doctor knew I was my husbands carer but at no point did she tell me about any help that is out there for me. I don't know if it was lack of her knowledge of such help or if she just couldn't be bothered.
It was back in May that I was given a leaflet for
I had briefly looked at their website before but was not sure if they would or could help me. I ended up emailing them and I got a response very quickly, they even told me who would be assigned my case. Within a few days she contacted me and within a few weeks she came to see. Well since meeting her she has helped me and #raspberrytalk with so much and
has helped us get in touch with other organisations and got both me and #raspberrytalk assessments done.
She referred me for some CBT and I had my 1st session this month. She has also helped with so many other things and most of all she's given me support.
Somewhere on the internet I found out about a mentoring programe/scheme for new carers (but can't remember where). It's done through an organisation called timebank.
Anyway, I signed up for it and my mentor is very good, full of advice and her husband has fibromyilgia. So she has an understanding of what I'm going through and what #raspberrytalk is going through too.
I have also been in touch with Carers UK,
who I signed up with at the beginning of the year. There is a lot of support on there too. If you sign up with them you can use the forums on there, which is mainly other carers and it's amazing how supportive they all are.
I was even part of carers week 2013 and shared my story.
I only found out about them because of using the internet and I'm sure there are other carers that are not lucky enough to have the internet. So how are we carers meant to know about help that is out there?
Something needs to be done about this. So many carers struggle without the help they truly need. I myself have struggled without help or support. This is not good because it can and has effected my own well being.
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