On R U Ok Day, 2022, reflections on being a Carer for a loved one with a chronic mental health condition.

It is very difficult for someone suffering from anxiety or depression, or schizophrenia to identify relapses by themselves.

The line is very blurry on where ‘normal’ tiredness ends, and pre-relapse symptoms begin.
A carer or a partner who lives with the person has a key role to play in identifying these symptoms early enough.

Medication is a double-edged sword – when you feel well by taking medication you are inclined to stop it because you feel well; when you feel unwell while on the medication you don’t feel brave enough to increase your dosage slightly to mitigate a relapse coming on.

Medication can also produce a range of side effects – including massive weight gain.

Medication does not work in an average of 30% of patients. Medication does play a big part in keeping you well.

When you do have a relapse if you are lucky to afford private health insurance, a private clinic will admit you if and here is the big if you are well enough to consent to your treatment and awareness of the treatment being administered to you.

If you are not well enough to acknowledge treatment administered to you, you get assigned to a public hospital system that is straining at the edges, and you are often deemed as an involuntary patient if 2 psychiatrists concur that your condition is not well enough.

As an involuntary patient, you have very little rights on your treatment – your treating psychiatrist can administer any treatment they deem necessary and does not need to listen to your relations and support network.

Your own regular psychiatrist is never allowed to treat you in the public mental health hospital you are admitted to – so there is no continuity of treatment – it is likely that every time you are admitted to hospital the wheel is reinvented on your treatment regime.

To come out of being treated as an involuntary patient, you need to be well enough for 2 doctors generally to concur, and your condition is reviewed every 28 days.

Most mental health patients in the hospital as involuntary patients do not get many visits from family and friends.

You can also be at risk of assault by other patients in the ward, and ward nurses have a thankless job in keeping everyone safe.

Your ability to stay well is also impeded by that in the public system, a psychiatrist sees you for 10 to 15 minutes maximum per visit.
 If you can afford to pay for private consultations, you get better time coverage in consultations.

Overall, if you manage to stay well day to day with a good quality of life by navigating all of this, then you are a superhero and you are amazing!

And kudos also to all the carers, be it family or friends, who play a big role in keeping loved ones well.