Kaycee
09-09-13, 11:30
Hi everyone. I am new to this site although I do use other forums related to different parts of my life. One in particular is for carers as I am the 'emotional' carer for my mum who has bipolar disorder. I have cyclothymia (a milder form of bipolar) and when our low cycles coincide it is a nightmare. We are going through this at the moment.
At 83 and virtually bed bound she is low most of the time, I can cope with this (just about) when I am well but when I am not, such as now, it all becomes too much. I also work full time in quite a demanding job where a lot of people make demands of me. At the moment I just feel totally overwhelmed with everything. Mum has lots of appointments coming up, care of the elderly consultant, psychiatrist, Occupational therapist, physio and GP. For all of these I have to take time off work which puts me under even more pressure when I am there. My life just revolves around her. I have a lovely family who are emotionally supportive but have their own issues to deal with. One daughter has a disabled husband and she has to work full time to support them and their three children, other daughter has two babies, one of which is disabled and requires lots of care and attention from specialists. My husband also supports me as much as he can but he worries so much about me that I tend to keep things from him as this just adds to my anxieties.
Sorry this is such a long introduction, but just writing all this down has helped. It has often been suggested that I would benefit from CBT but I just don't seem to be able to get started. I am going to read through the threads now for further information on this.
At 83 and virtually bed bound she is low most of the time, I can cope with this (just about) when I am well but when I am not, such as now, it all becomes too much. I also work full time in quite a demanding job where a lot of people make demands of me. At the moment I just feel totally overwhelmed with everything. Mum has lots of appointments coming up, care of the elderly consultant, psychiatrist, Occupational therapist, physio and GP. For all of these I have to take time off work which puts me under even more pressure when I am there. My life just revolves around her. I have a lovely family who are emotionally supportive but have their own issues to deal with. One daughter has a disabled husband and she has to work full time to support them and their three children, other daughter has two babies, one of which is disabled and requires lots of care and attention from specialists. My husband also supports me as much as he can but he worries so much about me that I tend to keep things from him as this just adds to my anxieties.
Sorry this is such a long introduction, but just writing all this down has helped. It has often been suggested that I would benefit from CBT but I just don't seem to be able to get started. I am going to read through the threads now for further information on this.