"I am not alone in this ordeal"
The emergence of a mental health problem within a family is never without its various impacts on its members. The new situation often leads to changes in life plans, expectations, and family routines.
In many cases, the family assumes a role of accompanying and caring for the person with the problem, especially women: mothers, daughters and sisters.
This new role of caregiver and of responding to the needs of the family can lead them to a progressive abandonment of their own needs, giving up their life project, losing importance along the way to friendships, leisure time and sometimes even their own partners.
Guidelines for self-care for the caregiver
Caregiving, with its emotional burden and personal strain, can worsen the mental health of those providing it if there is no space for self-care and an adequate distribution of responsibilities among all family members.
Mutual support groups (GAM) for family members and people in the environment aim to offer that space for meeting, self-care and mutual care to cope with the support and care of family members with mental disorders.
The Equilibri Mental Health Association runs a mutual support group for daughters of parents with mental health problems. The daughters who participate in the group consistently highlight the usefulness and support it provides, as well as the sense of belonging and companionship.
The GAM is a useful tool for me, one I hadn't known about until now. I'm grateful for it. Joining the GAM has been one of the best decisions I've made in recent months. Participating in it makes me realize I'm not alone in this process. Montse.
This mutual support group aims to be a space where they can talk and express what each of them feels in the tasks of accompanying and caring for their family member, exchange experiences to understand and learn to take care of themselves as caregivers, and also to become aware of the feminization of care for people with mental health problems.
For me, GAM is a space where I feel connected to a group—in this case, women—who communicate in the same language, that is, with somewhat similar life experiences. I don't feel like an outsider; on the contrary, I feel understood and supported. It's a monthly meeting where each of us participates, respecting each other's space, so we can let go and express without disguising what we feel or have experienced, both the pain and the beautiful moments. Elisabeth
Sharing experiences and stories with the women of GAM enriches us all and helps us stop thinking, "This only happens to me." Furthermore, each woman's experiences help the others to set things in motion, to establish synergies that benefit everyone. We also find in the group a helping hand and a shoulder to lean on if we feel overwhelmed. Montse
The pandemic situation has led them to offer the group in an online format and, contrary to what one might think, the helping and supportive relationships established through this GAM are solid and are experienced in a very comforting way by the daughters.
For me, our GAM (Group of Friends) is an invisible safety net. It's not close because we each live our own lives, we don't see each other, we only share a small amount of time each month, and what might seem weak, volatile, and not very useful is actually a strong and permanent support network. - Amanda
This testimony is possible thanks to the Associació Salut Mental Equilibri
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