Help with your caring role
A carer is someone who gives unpaid support to someone with a mental health issue and they rely on that support. This applies even if the person doesn’t live with you.
This term is confusing and not always easy to accept as it is also used for paid care workers so it might be easier to see yourself as a parent, partner or friend.
The word ‘carer’ is, however, used in Government policies, law and generally accepted by professionals. It is worth recognising that it applies to you even if you prefer not to use it, as it can be the key to recognising what help and resources are available to you.
The Carers Trust describes a carer as “anyone who cares, unpaid, for a friend or family member who due to illness, disability, a mental health problem or an addiction cannot cope without their support".
Anyone can become a carer. Carers come from all walks of life, all cultures and can be of any age. Many feel they are doing what anyone else would do in the same situation: looking after their mother, son, or best friend and just getting on with it.
We run online drop-in sessions to support carers. Please email carersqaservice@nsft.nhs.uk to find out more.
Self-help guides
A range of self-help guides are available to download in several formats, with information on abuse, alcohol, anxiety, bereavement, controlling anger, depression, domestic violence, eating disorders, hearing voices, obsessions and compulsions, panic, post traumatic stress, postnatal sepression, self-harm, shyness, social anxiety, sleeping and more.