Helpful Hints for Living with Mental Illness
As families who live with the challenges of Mental Illness we offer the following learnings:
- Take One Day At A Time: It is very easy to get overwhelmed trying to solve what might happen tomorrow, next month or next year. Living as much as possible in the present can be helpful.
- Take Care of Yourself Too: Its easy to become all consumed with the wellbeing of your child and forget to focus on your own health - both physical and mental. It is important to try and find moments just for you - whatever it is that makes you more relaxed. Like they say on airplanes - put on your own oxygen mask first. Without your health you cannot be help to your child
- Educate Yourself: Knowledge is powerful. It helps to reduce fear and it empowers you when interfacing with medical prfessionals. In some cases families have found that by learning themselves they can offer potential solutions to the medical professionals. Read books, check reliable sources on the web, attend seminars, join a support group.
- Join a Support Group: everyone needs support and a place where they can ask questions, vent emotions. Meeting with other families who have gone through or who are currently going through the same or similar situations can be very helpful.
- Document Everything: keeping a written log of everything - your child's symptoms, medications tried and the dosages, meetings with professionals etc is important. You think you will remember everything but it does get confusing. Sharing this log with the treatment team can sometimes prove to be helpful
- Become Part of your Child's Treatment Team: It is important to remember that you know your child better than anyone else. You know the shild before the illness set in. You hold the baseline of what is normal for your child. This information is valuable to the treatment team as it helps them to know if a medication is helping or perhaps hindering.
- Develop a Relationhip with Your Childs treatment team: Things have come a long way over the last 10 years where medical professionals are now valuing family input. However this is not always the case. If the treatment team does not include you remember they must always take your input - so provide a written letter of what you want them to know or understand. Try and meet with the team and explain that you want to be included. If necessary when all efforts fail you may need to approach the facility's administration to voice your concerns.
- Have lists of the Resources available - have a plan. Understanding what do do in case of an emergency will make such situations less stressful. Keep it posted for handy reference.
- Seek Help for Yourself: Your child will have a treatment team but you may also need professionals to talk with the help you through the stress associated with supporting an individual. Many parent's themselves find that working with a social worker or psychologist or even the family doctor can help. Chronic stress is not something to be ignored as it can have significant health implications.