A Co Armagh mum, who cares for her disabled sons, has opened up on "feeling forgotten, frozen in time and with little-to-no support".
People like Tracey Gilliland, who are providing unpaid care for sick or disabled family members or friends in Northern Ireland, say they are living with "shocking levels of poor health" as they struggle to access support services or breaks from caring.
It comes as a new survey released today by Carers NI of over 1,600 unpaid carers here found that 27% described their mental health as bad or very bad, while 20% said the same about their physical health.
Read more: Meet the NI couple supporting young people with mental health issues
Support to help look after themselves is out of reach for many carers, as 40% said they hadn’t had a break from caring during the last year and 23% said the support services in their area did not meet their needs.
The survey also showed that carers’ health is worsening due to the cost of living crisis, with nearly 70% saying that rising bills were having a negative impact on their physical or mental health.
Carers also described the experiences of depression, anxiety, stress and loneliness that are driven by their caring roles.
Tracey, lives in Portadown and has two sons aged in their 20s, who need round-the-clock care.
She said: “Since the pandemic began, families like ours have been all but forgotten, frozen in time and with little-to-no support. Carers are still having to ask for the full return of much-needed day care and respite services and it feels like we’ve been left to paddle our own canoes with no help.
“We are the forgotten army who work 24/7, 365 days a year in the background. No one knows our struggles. The many sleepless nights and exhaustion during the day. The impact on carers’ mental health. The isolation that families like us experience that no one else sees.”
The survey also asked carers about their top support needs, with nearly half (49%) identifying more breaks or time off from caring and the same proportion asking for more support from the health service or health professionals.
Carers NI are calling for a legal right to social care support for all unpaid carers, the appointment of an independent Carers’ Champion to advocate for carers to government, and wider transformation of the health system.
Craig Harrison, Policy and Public Affairs Manager for Carers NI, said: “Unpaid carers across Northern Ireland are living with shocking levels of poor health and, time and again, they’re being let down by local support services.
“We’re seeing so many carers driving themselves into the ground, physically exhausted, in a constant state of anxiety and with little opportunity for a break or hope that the situation will ever improve.
“The Covid-19 pandemic only added more pressure to a social care system that was already falling apart. Add in the devastating health impact of the cost of living crisis and our carers are facing a perfect storm.
“We need the Stormont institutions restored so that long-promised reform of the social care system can finally be delivered and our unpaid carers given the support they so desperately need. This carer health emergency will only get worse and worse if we fail to act.”
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