Category Archives: emotions related to illness

Living with a child who is born with problems

It is hard having a child who will never have the life experiences you have had; who will never be the child you dreamt of; who will not allow you to be the mother or father you always saw yourself … Continue reading

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Children worry when a parent is ill. Children will worry about parents with long covid.

They worry about                Will they get better? Will they die? It’s my fault they are ill …. this should be a question, but a child may simply believe it without questioning. Is it the other parent’s fault? or someone … Continue reading

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Coronavirus anxieties

It seems that people who are normally sensible may react very badly to the pandemic, while others seem to be far less troubled. One reason for an over-reaction can be that worries from the past are triggered by events that … Continue reading

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Sadness Time

Sadness is important.  It accompanies regrets, recognition of real losses, grief. But sadness is painful; painful to experience and painful to watch in someone you love. People often try to stop feelings of sadness by avoiding ever thinking about distressing … Continue reading

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Unrecognised disabilities have consequences throughout life…

How many people are living with some undiagnosed, unrecognised, neurological problem or disability which caused them difficulty at home and at school?  How many people were told they were stupid, or felt they were stupid, when they had a problem … Continue reading

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The Trouble with Illness – the book!

The Trouble with Illness: How Illness and Disability Affect Relationships  is being published by Jessica Kingsley on 21st Jun 2017. I spent the last summer writing it, discovering files which were dated 2007 in the process; at last it’s coming … Continue reading

Posted in carers, children with ill parents, counselling, emotions related to illness, flirting with death, grieving processes, health, identification, illness, papers, professional health workers, relationships, talking about feelings | Tagged | Leave a comment

Tearing the hair off a doll

I’ve written about this in my book, Phantasy in Everyday Life. When Jane was two (or possibly three) years old, she found her doll with the hair torn off.  Jane was very upset and asked her mother who had done … Continue reading

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The capacity to care for others or ourselves is vulnerable.

Caring, like loving, can be very satisfying and fulfilling, but it can also be very painful.  If we care, we allow our feelings to depend on the behaviour and feelings of others, not just ourselves.  Caring can affect others’ feelings … Continue reading

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A parent’s illness affects their children

– when everyone would rather it didn’t. Children need parents, when it would be much easier if they didn’t. Children may have to think about their parents in ways nobody wants. Parents may have to think about their children in … Continue reading

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The NHS – an Ideal Carer?

We want the NHS to be an Ideal Carer (see previous blog). The Francis Report into the failure of care at the Mid-Staffordshire NHS Foundation Trust stated that ‘patient care is at the very centre of the NHS, and no … Continue reading

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