Here you can find out about:

• What you can do
• What support there is for you
• Being a young carer

 What you can do

• Being there to listen to someone who has a mental health condition can be really helpful. You might not be able to cure them but it shows you care and it means that the person isn’t keeping all their worries and problems bottled up.
• Giving encouragement is also good, as having a mental illness can make someone feel down about their abilities and achievements.
• Supporting and encouraging them to make their own decisions can also help.
• Remember- you don’t need to come up with all the answers to all their problems. You can offer suggestions, company and sympathy but professional counsellors and therapists are trained to help someone sort out their problems and illness.

Practical Help

You can also offer practical help, for example, a friend with depression might not want to cook for themselves so you could make something for them; or someone having lots of panic attacks might struggle with going to the supermarket so you could pick up some food for them.

It’s important that they get better enough to do these things on their own rather than rely on you, so try and encourage them to help you, even if it’s just a little bit.

How it can affect you

Listening to someone else’s problems can take its toll on you, and you may need to ‘offload’ onto someone else (without breaking the person’s confidence) so you are not taking on their worries.

You could call Breathing Space on 0800 83 85 87 (Monday to Thursday 6pm - 2am, Friday 6pm through to Monday 6am) to talk it through. They are a free and confidential service and it’s easier to keep the other person’s confidence as Breathing Space won’t know who you are talking about.

Being a carer

You might be the full-time carer of someone with a serious mental illness. This can be very challenging but there is help and support for you.

Carers Scotland is probably the best place to start; they have loads of information on their website, including details of local support groups for carers.

You and the person you care for may be entitled to benefits, check with your local Citizens Advice Bureau to find out more. Take a look at the Citizens Advice Scotland website to find your local Citizens Advice Bureau or call the free CarersLine on 0808 808 7777 (Weds & Thurs: 10am - 12pm and 2pm - 4pm).

If you care for someone, you have the right to ask for an assessment of your needs to see what help your local social work department can give you, including housing, health, work, time and relationships. The assessment also includes looking at your own health and needs.