Hi everyone. I have not used this forum before and am not even sure if this is where I should be posting this but hopefully it’s ok. I care for my Mum who is 84 and lives in her own house a few miles from me. She has bipolar disorder - diagnosed when aged 30 - and takes Lithium as a mood stabiliser and, until recently, an anti depressant. In general, over recent years, she has been relatively stable and able to live independently with my help. A few months ago she took a real dip in mood and increase in anxiety and the GP and mental health team recommended a change of anti depressant. Early on the switch seemed to work well but after a few weeks Mums low again and she also complained of physical side effects so stopped taking them. So she stopped taking it and we are now working with the GP and the mental health team to try and get her back on an even keel - but it’s very slow going.
My question is whether anyone knows of a telephone or other support service that I can tap into as her carer. I am particularly interested to find out about any support available for carers of older people with enduring mental health issues other than dementia - particularly bipolar/anxiety/depression.
Many thanks for reading this.