We are just coming to the end of Carers Week. This is a specific week to raise awareness of the role of unpaid informal carers. You may not see yourself as a carer- you’re a husband, wife, partner, parent, adult child, friend. It’s just what you do.
Stress and Demands of Caring
I meet a lot of people through my therapeutic massage clinics who are carers. I see how hard they work to support the person they love and care for, often without much thought or time for themselves. The Carers UK State of Caring Survey 2023 reports carers as saying:
- 49% feel depressed
- 50% feel lonely
- 79% feel stressed or anxious
- 82% believe the impact of caring on their physical and mental health would become a challenge over the coming year
Carers, like all of us, have stress in their lives with many demands on our time and energy. But for carers there is often the additional stress of the expectations they have of themselves, perhaps sometimes a feeling of exhaustion, irritation, guilt, resentment. This can put a strain on your relationship and make it harder to cope with the demands of caring for someone you love.
Carers Week Event at Morrello Clinic
So this year, as part of Carers Week, I offered an afternoon event at Morrello Clinic to give carers some skills and techniques to help them keep calm and carry on. One thing carers never have enough of is time for themselves so each routine they were shown can be done in 5 minutes or less. We focused on identifying where each person felt stress or tension in their body and then used short sequences to reduce it. This was done with a combination of breathing, self-massage and posture. We also practiced some instant wins such as deep shoulder shrugging for when you notice you are wearing your shoulders as earrings! By the end of the afternoon everyone was feeling a little more relaxed.
Take Home Treats
Everyone was able to take home a leaflet with reminders of what to do as well as some Relax tea and biscuits. One lucky person also won a therapeutic massage session to use later.
Further Information
They were also given information about Carers UK in Wales and the services they provide to help and support carers to keep calm and carry on doing what they do. If you would like to know more too, take a look here http://www.carersuk.org.uk