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Caregiving can be a strain on all kinds of relationships. Sometimes it affects the relationship you have with the person you are caring for, and sometimes it brings you closer. Sometimes caregiving can be hard on other relationships, like friendships or romantic relationships, cause other people don’t always “get it”. Has caregiving affected your relationships? For better or worse? What kinds of things can you do to help keep your relationships with friends, partners or family members?
Caregiving can be a strain on all kinds of relationships. Sometimes it affects the relationship you have with the person you are caring for, and sometimes it brings you closer. Sometimes caregiving can be hard on other relationships, like friendships or romantic relationships, cause other people don’t always “get it”. Has caregiving affected your relationships? For better or worse? What kinds of things can you do to help keep your relationships with friends, partners or family members?
In most recent times, I have been providing support for my friend who has borderline personality disorder. Caring for her has made it challenging for us to share joyous moments that we once shared in the past. Something that has helped me throughout this whole process is setting boundaries of the things that I will accept from her versus the things that I won’t accept. With BPD, individuals have a tendency of isolating themselves out of fear of losing their loved ones. I set boundaries between my friend and I so that when she isolates herself, our friendship wouldn’t disappear as well. I would ask her to give me a call weekly to speak about how are week has been going, ask to see her monthly, etc.
Hi unknown
Setting boundaries is so important! It can be really hard to separate the person from the illness, but it sounds like this is a really helpful way to protect your friendship.
You might find this article useful about supporting someone with mental illness: https://youngcaregiversconnect.ca/mental-illness/
Sometimes it can be hard to set boundaries in the moment, but you’re right, it can be what sustains your relationship over the long term so that you can keep supporting them going forward. That’s a big step and it sounds like you’ve really found something that works for you and your friend.
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