Welcome to the Friends, Family and Carers Group Hub! Introduce yourself here 🙂

[Squibblybits]

Hello, for those of you that follow the teachings of Eckhart Tolle; that we relate on. I am seemingly trying to enhance positive mental health and the narrative of ill-mental health. I would love more teaching presence, thank you. 

[rav3n]

Hello @Squibblybits welcome to the forums!! 😊

I've never heard of Eckhart Tolle, will definitely look into his teaching! 

Love that you're keen on learning more and fostering a positive outlook onto mental health, you're in the perfect place 💙

We've also got our Newbie's social circle here, it's another great place for you to connect with likeminded people 🙂 Re: Newbie's Social Club - Come make some friends! - Page 21 - SANE Recovery Community (saneforums.o...

See you around the forums 💙

[WorriedBro]

Hi, I'm new here. I live with my mum, two sisters and younger brother. We are going through alot right now. I'm here hoping to connect with people who are struggling or have struggled living with a loved one who has mental illness. 

If it's ok I'd like to share what we are going through.

About five years ago my brother had a breakdown of sorts and required hospital care. A diagnosis of schizo effective disorder was given. After hospital he was receiving treatment and eventually discharged from the service. I feel that he was never really able to get on-top of his illness and mixed his medication with heavy alcohol use. Late last year to early this year he stopped his medication completely. Eventually he chose to stop using alcohol. During the periods of sobriety my brother would become extremely distant. He would hardly leave his bedroom at all. When we would see him just for a few seconds and try to engage with him he wouldn't acknowledge us or respond to us. He seemed to wait for no one to be around before he would leave his room. We could hear him leave his room while we were in another room. After a few months of this behaviour he has been acknowledging us with an eyebrow raise or head nod. We are so worried about him. We don't know what to do for him or how to get him help. We do know how much he hates doctors since his hospitalization and have heard him say he would prefer to die than to see a doctor if he could trust one. 

He was drunk recently and became extremely verbally aggressive and abusive. My family and I aren't feeling the safest anymore and we don't know where to turn. 

[GardensHeart]

Hi @WorriedBro ,

Thank you for sharing your story. We want to take this space to also welcome you to our community. 

Being in a situation like this and seeing families struggling is not easy. This can be a long journey, so please take care of yourself. 

We hope our members will be able to provide you with some support, and if there is anything we can help you with, don't hesitate to ask! 

[Sujema]

Hi,

My daughter is newly diagnosed with schizophrenia and currently is in Involuntary admission in hospital. We, her family, have been and continued to be impacted by her illness for over 15 years,  and the stress of dealing with the network of medical, Gov depts, et, to get her the help she needs.

Any advice from other parents if people living with Schizophrenia would be so welcome.  ie: Medically supported accommodation, Disability Support Pension etc, and Amy other helpful information, would be so appreciated.

Thankyou, 

Sujema

[Sujema]

Hi,

My daughter is newly diagnosed with schizophrenia and currently is in Involuntary admission in hospital. We, her family, have been and continued to be impacted by her illness for over 15 years,  and the stress of dealing with the network of medical, Gov depts, et, to get her the help she needs.

Any advice from other parents of people living with Schizophrenia would be so welcome.  ie: Medically supported accommodation, Disability Support Pension etc, and Any other helpful information, would be so appreciated.

Thankyou, 

Sujema

[JulzT]

Hi 

I am a carer for our 32 year old ASD son.
He is an amazing human, big hearted and so kind.
He's finding life, the lonely part of ASD, so hard right now.
It's so hard to support and to watch.

And it feels so lonely.

I was looking for something after a difficult day, and found this.

I am very grateful. 💛

[tyme]

Welcome to the forums @JulzT ,

I hear how hard it is as a carer, despite it being so rewarding too.

Do you have respite care in place?

[JulzT]

HI!
Thank you so much for your welcome.
It is very rewarding, we've watched our son grow and able to do much more than anyone thought he would.
He manages well, but does need lots of emotional support amongst other things. So sometimes, it's so much harder, but not as hard as I know it could be.

We don't have respite care in place.
I do have family support though and I'll get a break tomorrow.

I think as he gets older, he's going to find things a little more difficult, so we're going to have to start looking at services we need to put in place.

[tyme]

Yes, the services are there so he can get the support he needs to work towards independence (as much as possible). 

It is also a chance to give you a break. @JulzT 

You'll find that as you age, your son is not getting any younger or smaller. Hence, while able, it's good to have the supports in place. 

I'm glad to hear your family are good supports.