I love your seals, I find painting very therapeutic myself but somehow there is never time now. I have not contributed for some time, the staying home has not helped our situation and I have no time as my husband is so  debilitated, frail but demanding.  I find I can relate to so much of what others have posted, and I wonder why the medical "experts" cannot see the carer as in need of support so often. Thankfully there has been a change in our area, but as has been said often they have the same problems themselves so will not recognise the clever way some hide their problems.  My husband is now 84, doctors are pleased that he has managed so long, they appear to think he has coped well so must not be so bad. In the past it has been almost impossible to get them to believe that I have been the one who got him through, especially with finances. He has spent most of his life inventing a facade, he almost believes it himself, and psychiatrists have believed him. Now some have realized I might be the one telling the truth, a bit late for me, after all these years. A neurologist has diagnosed him with cognitive problems as a result of his mental illness, and suggested he is on the autism spectrum, but mental health experts are not interested. I am sorry to hear of  others who have lost their partner, I have sometimes wished for the same, but in reality he has not been all bad and I would miss him a lot. There have been good times, if only treatment of mental illness was more accepted and recognized like most other illness. I think it is time the stigma was gone, I hope for every ones sake it will eventually.