@Former-Member I feel for you on the loss of your nan, mine had alzeimers from an unfortunately young age and i lost her in late teens so i know how awful that is. *hugs*
so, what are my experiences like... i find it quite difficult to explain to people my own age what my life can be like, i mean when bipolar boy is travelling well, our life is fairly normal, we do the same stuff every young couple would, but when he is having a depressive episode, my life changes in the blink of an eye to carer mode and he takes all of my love, attention and energy.
i find i am tired... a lot... haha... caring for someone else is emotionally draining and as a result i get physically tired. I also work full time but luckily i have amazingly supportive mgmt above me and if i need to drop everything to go and sort out my partner, they are always accomodating.
i also find... and i dont know if this is because of being a carer or its just me... i am almost fearful of starting a family of my own. i love my partner dearly and i know we can/will make it through any challenge, but i feel like i already carry so much responsibiity that i dont want to add on any more with children. i honestly dont know if this is a feeling that will change, i hope so but the older i get, the more confident i feel i dont want the added resposibility.
For fun, i play basketball, and i LOVE it! i am also a snake catcher so that gets the adrenaline pumping and allows me to volunteer away from my partner. i never "take a break" from my partner as such... but there are good periods where as i said im not really a carer, just his girlfriend, and that feels like a break haha!
What about you? what do you do to give yourself a break?
xx
Tigs
