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Carers' Stories & Poetry

Carers and family members describe the impact on their lives when a person in the family becomes unwell. People highlight the issues they face and resources they found helpful.

Stories
All in MS Word format

• Life in the Fast Lane
  A mother describes how her family changed forever when her daughter was admitted to hospital under section.
  • Update
    
    
• Unsuspecting Carer's Tale
  A father movingly describes the impact on his family of having to grapple with his son’s mental health problems without information or support
  
  
• Who Will Listen?
  A wife describes the impact on the life of her family when her husband became unwell, and highlights the dangers of mental health professionals seeing only one side of the story.
  
  
• Jenni's story
  A mother describes the impact that receiving Behavioural Family Therapy had on her family.
  
  
• Mental Health and My Family
  A man describes how he feels about his life with schizophrenia.
  
  
• A life after Caring
  A carer for many years describes how he coped with life after the death of his wife.
  
  
• Letter of commendation
  A letter of commendation from a family to Sandwell Mental Health & Social Care NHS Trust.
  
  
• Peter's story
  A father shares his feelings about his son's illness, and the lack of information given to him.
  
  
• Parents of a young man with paranoid psychosis talk about what it meant for them to be offered Behavioural Family Therapy

Poetry
All in MS Word format

• Celia Soden
  A mother writes her poetry in rap form describing her life with her son, their feelings and his illness
  • Carer on the Job
  • Caring is Wearing
  • Communication
  • Consider yourself a Vehicle
  • Take a Pat on the Back
  • The Name is the Game
  • The Train
    
    
• F LeMaitre
  A carer describes in poetry the effect of a relatives illness on her life.
  • My Worlds / Constancy
    
    
• Georgina Wakefield
  A Mother, who has written books to help families and carers, shares her poetry.
  • Kindred Spirits
  • Suddenly out of the Blue
  • Thin on the Ground
  • Troubled Minds / Stolen Lives

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