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Category: Coping Skills

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Coping Skills

No-One Can Pour From An Empty Cup: 5 Ways Carers Can Care For Themselves

If you’ve ever been on a plane, you’ll know that there’s a moment before take-off where the flight attendants take you through the safety message. It is made clear that when those oxygen masks fall from the ceiling, you are to put on your own mask before helping your dependants with their masks. Why? Because there’s no point trying to help someone else when you haven’t got access to oxygen yourself. Being a part or full-time carer is the same thing. You need to ensure that you are taking care of yourself before you can be of any use to others. But how do you do this? All too often we get caught up in the day to day running of life for our loved one and it seems easier to put our needs at the bottom of the list. Time, energy and motivation are used as excuses for not doing anything for ourselves. No-one can pour from an empty cup, so we’ve put together five ways you can start taking care of yourself and including yourself in the picture:   1. Schedule Time In For Yourself We can see you rolling your eyes already, but we’re serious. Put it

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Five Ways To Say No Arafmi Mental Health Carers Feature
Coping Skills

5 Ways To Say No

In our Mental Health Carer Workshop “The Power of Personal Boundaries”, we discuss a very important topic, the power of saying ‘no’. This one small word can pack quite a punch and understandably, we sometimes find it difficult to utter this word. Too often we feel like we have to say ‘yes’ and end up over-committed, stressed and resentful. And many times this is a direct result of never being taught how to hone this very handy skill. Saying ‘no’ is definitely a skill worth learning and practising. It’s worth noting that often times when we say yes to other people, we’re saying no to ourselves. But why and to what end? While it can seem easier to say yes, this can sometimes be not only unfair to ourselves, but to the other person. Your time is important and respecting yourself sometimes will mean you have to say no. Putting yourself first is not something to feel guilty about; it’s merely a matter of learning the skills and practising it. If you remain unconvinced, how about thinking of your ‘yeses’ as a commodity? Your yes should mean something – it should be special and the less you give them out,

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7 Carer Coping Skills and Planning tips for the Festive Season web 2
Coping Skills

7 Carer Coping Skills and Planning tips for the Festive Season

Christmas is a challenging time for Carers, for many it can be overwhelming, stressful with mixed emotions such as anxiety, love and sadness. Some family members that you don’t often see until Christmas time may find it difficult to understand the complexities of a mental illness, which could lead to loved ones feeling rejected. What’s important is that your loved one is reassured that their mental illness is not their fault, it’s not who they are and not a sign of personal weakness and, particularly in at this festive time to be themselves and have fun. Talk to those friends and family who want to be understanding and compassionate and share the following with them, it will be useful for you too. How to cope with difficult behaviour Don’t try to defend yourself It is better not to force decisions When responding, use “I” statements Acknowledge their experience as being real for them Be respectful and avoid confrontations When they are in pain, they may want to hurt others as much as they are hurting Try to discontinue the discussion without damaging the person’s self-esteem Carers often respond to requests for help from the person they care for by instinctively

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