A person who has never been in the position of caring for someone else was heard saying to his friend; “What’s the big deal about taking care of your Dad? Why are you taking care of your father? Get someone else to do it man. I don’t see you at the squash courts any longer. Get a life. Get a wife.”
A young woman told her sister: “We could move mom to the frail section of a retirement home, you know? She has dementia and won’t know the difference between home or that place. Why won’t you agree to that? Do you feel guilty about something?”
An office worker told a co-worker: “You look so tired today. What did you do after work yesterday?” Then, when this young man’s mother died, his insensitive acquaintance said; “I supposed you feel relieved now that it’s all over.”
All of the examples cited above, apply to taking care of a person suffering from a mental illness or another debilitating condition and their caregivers need tender loving care, sympathy and understanding too.
