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IF YOU ARE CONSTANTLY TRYING TO MOTIVATE SOMEONE THEN IT MAY BE TIME TO TAKE NOTICE

Sometimes you feel like you are just nagging and nagging.  If you find that there is someone in your family who you cannot get motivated to do anything then it is worth having a discussion with them about their feelings.  Often a person who is depressed is just running 'flat line'. They just cannot get excited about doing anything, and to even get a laugh out of them seems almost impossible.  People who are depressed often just want to hide away in their bedroom and be by themselves.

If you are finding this is the case, and they say they just 'don't care', it may be worth having a talk with a doctor.

Some hints for helping carers are in our ebook Mental Illness – Coping Strategies For The Carer 

Depression is a form of mental illness, and those that suffer depression do need supportive help until they can get back in control of things again.

MOTIVATION IS OFTEN HARD ENOUGH ANYWAY, BUT DEPRESSION CAN REALLY AFFECT YOUR MOTIVATION.

When you are depressed even the smallest task can seem huge, and it can be very hard to handle day to day events when you are depressed.  For example, if you have to ring someone up to sort out an account problem, it is almost an insurmountable task.  The issue itself is bad enought, but to have to talk to a person you do not know can just be too much.

What can seem like procrastination can actually be the symptom of depression.  For more information on handling issues our Mental Illness – Coping Strategies For The Carer ebook may be of help to you.

WHEN A PERSON IS SUFFERING FROM DEPRESSION THEY OFTEN DO NOT REALISE IT

So often a person can feel down, think that they feel low because something that has gone wrong has triggered the low emotion, or they just do not realise that the fact that they do not laugh anymore is just their personality.

If you know anyone who says to you, I just don't feel anything any more, I don't get excited anymore, then it may pay to suggest that they have a talk with a professional.

A person can be depressed, but not actually feel really, really low as is often expected.  A person may just trudge along on their daily grind and not realise that it can be a whole lot better for them.

But what does happen is that when problems do arise, they are so much harder to handle.  Coping strategies for carers is covered in our ebook Mental Illness – Coping Strategies for the Carer.

There are helpful tips in there for all stages of caring for a person with a mental illness.

IF YOU ARE A CARER OF A MENTALLY ILL FAMILY MEMBER read more

When you have a family member who is currently ill, don't forget to look after yourself as well.  There seems to be no quick fixes with helping get someone well after a mental illness episode. 

As much as we want to get them well, it just does not happen unless the person who is ill gets motivated to do so.  Part of your helping them will in trying to find the right trigger to want them to get well.  It may be the fact that they are getting older and want to 'have a life' or it may be that there are some new family members, like new nephews and nieces. 

What ever it may be, try and find that trigger that will help them get well.  Or, should I say motivate them to take their medications and do other things to improve their lives.

Our Ebook Mental Illness – Coping Strategies For The Carer can be downloaded at http://ebooksnowonline.com/family/mental-illness-coping-strategies/   This ebook as lots of strategies for coping in the present, and also it looks at the future.

SO SORRY TO HEAR TONIGHT OF MARK PRIESTLEY’S SUDDEN DEATH

All Saints and the public will miss him dearly.  I so enjoyed his acting.  It is such a shame that people so talented as he was, also has to fight every day to overcome such a horrible illness.

There are so many people suffering from depression, and in so many cases, the sufferers do not even know that they are.  Many people just think that life is handing them a rough deal, when in fact they are clinically depressed.  Depression is a form of mental illness, and is so hard on the sufferer.

Many years have gone by since I was first brought into contact with mental illness, and it has taken all these years to learn about caring for someone with a mental illness.  

 Each case is different so we all have our own journeys to take, but by constant analysing we can get a picture of what is going on with the person who is ill.

One thing that I have discovered, with a person with schizophrenia, is that change in circumstances and environment can have a very unsettling effect.  But doesn't that make the circle go round.  Because they are unwell circumstances may lead to them not having a constant roof over their head, but because they do not, they are always under stress from that.

The constant change also gives rise to the fact that they forget medication which in turn makes them extremely unwell.

My belief is that having a constant daily routine with a constant reasonably happy life, then there is a much better chance of a person reaching their recovery level.

I have covered many of these issues in my ebook Mental Illness -Coping Strategies for the Carer

There are many reasons why a person with a mental illness may not be diagnosed as early as a carer may wish for.

One of the reasons may be that at the time of assessment, the person being diagnosed may not be able to communicate that well and therefore the doctor cannot get a clear picture of what is actually  being experienced. 

Another reason is that the person who is potentially ill may be able to hold quite a reasonable conversation at the time of a consultation.  The stress of trying to do this may then cause them to be even worse once the consultation is over.  The 'holding it together' for the consultation may be done on purpose, or it may just be that being in a different environment and with a different person, the person who is ill makes an effort to hold a reasonable conversation. Or then again, there may be a host of other reasons too.

Because of there are so many variations  it may take several psychiatrist visits, or hospitalisations, to fully understand what exactly is happening. 

All this can be quite alarming for a carer in the first instance because usually they are seeing signs of the illness on a regular basis and cannot understand why a diagnosis cannot be made.  But from a medical point of view, a psychiatrist obviously has to observe or hear of these symptoms first hand.

Our ebook Mental Illness – Coping Strategies For The Carer explains many of these issues that may remain a mystery to a carer for quite some time in the learning phases of caring.

Would love to hear and share your comments.

I REMEMBER MY DOCTOR SAYING TO ME: "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU HAVE LOST YOUR SON?"

I said, "Well, it seems to me that I will never have my son back, the way he was." And it is so true, every now and then I get a flash of the humour he had – it was a really dry sense of humour, one that made you think first and laugh later.  But after being inflicted with schizophrenia I am not sure I will ever see that same son again.

He used to write absolutely tear wrenching messages on family birthday cards, so loving and sentimental. 

I guess it's all in the change.  I love going out for coffee with him, he has a gentle nature and we have a chuckle over different little things, but it is quite hard for him to get involved in deep conversations, or to plan too far in the future.

Keeping a positive attitude does wonders all round, mind you I do know the other side, and I know what my thoughts would have been if someone said that to me in the early stages!

For more real life experiences have a read of Mental Illness – Coping Strategies for the Carer

At the time of severe mental illness I would think most carers would wonder if ever life was going to get any better.  Research is showing that quite a high number of people are reclaiming their independence and are living meaningful lives. 

I have seen several very ill people around the streets at one stage, and sometime later seen them again and they have almost been like a different person.  It is so heart warming to see someone who has made such a leap with their lives.   Very few do it alone, they need the support of carers and the health professionals to achieve these wonderful things. 

A carers insight, along with a multitude ot tips can be acccess in the ebook Mental Illness – Coping Strategies for the Carer at http://ebooksnowonline.com/family/mental-illness-coping-strategies/

Learn from others as they too, had to learn from those that went before them.

"Talk to them", you say:  "Talk sense with them", how can you do that?

I too have experienced times when I could not make sense of what my son was saying, never mind what I was trying to get across to him.

No-one is saying that there are any quick fixes here. Honestly, it may take weeks or even months to get a particular point across, but when it does hit home it is well worth the effort.

Keeping in mind the type of illnesses you are dealing with there will more than likely be small windows of time where you will be able to open up some sort of discussion.  Sometimes these windows of opportunity are so small, and there can be so many mental health issues to be discussed, that you will have to prioritise them. 

Keeping a diary or notepad, at least, of issues to be discussed helps relieve some of the stress because you know you have it on paper and it wont be forgotten in all the turmoil.

Our ebook Mental Illness – coping strategies for the carer is full of tips and hints for the carer so don't feel alone, many people are going through what you may be going through.