Young carers awareness day Jan 30th : article- 'One day it just got too much': The hidden lives of young carers

Sly Saint

Sly Saint

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
According to the last census, there are 166,000 young carers in England, but recent research suggests that the actual figure may be as many as 800,000 – that’s six young carers in every secondary school classroom. Despite being so prolific, carers are often hidden from view – attempting to juggle their caring role with school work but too terrified to speak up and seek support, suffering mental health complications as a result.

Young Carers Awareness Day; an annual campaign led by Carers Trust, falls on the 30 January 2020. It hopes to raise awareness of the challenges young carers face and campaigns for greater support for them.
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Like many young carers, I can’t tell you the exact moment my mum got sick. Nor can I pinpoint the moment I started helping her and my family get through day-to-day life. But there was a moment, 10 years ago, when my mother went from healthy to bed bound. She spent weeks unable to move, struggling to even sip water or to stomach a slice of toast. That was when everything changed.
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We now know that my mum has myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), a chronic disease that impacts the body’s nervous and immune systems. Previously known as chronic fatigue syndrome, it is at least as disabling as multiple sclerosis and congestive heart failure – but there is currently no cure and reaching diagnosis is a battle. My mum can’t walk further than half a mile without crashing for days afterwards. On her best days, she is mostly housebound; even going for a walk is a distant dream. She spends her worst in bed, unable to stand any noise or light. ME can also impact her cognitive capabilities: her words can often become mixed up and slurred.

In the years after she got sick, I helped my mum with everyday tasks that kept my family going. This could mean making sure that she had eaten and taken her pain killers; it could involve undertaking basic household chores or it could mean dropping my plans to become available at a moment’s notice to pick my sister up from school or to look after her at weekends. It also meant that from the age of 14, I had to be strong for the rest of my family, even when I didn’t feel strong myself.
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full article here
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...ess-carers-week-2019-university-a8946801.html
 
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