Not help at all


 HELPING SOMEONE WHO IS LONG TERM VERY ILL

The manner in which you present yourself in the caring role, is critical to the success of the interaction. How you speak, act, move within the person's environment can harm, shock the person, lead to physical deterioration and distress, if it is not grounded in sensitivity to their vulnerability.
Remember this, you can help or harm.
There is no room for carelessness, clumsiness, impatience, inattention; the harm you can inadvertently do to a very ill person is not just in the immediate moment; the impact may go on for days, weeks, months and can be catastrophic.
It is too easy to cause harm even by the simplest action, wrongly timed or inappropriately carried out. You need to be knowledgeable about the seriously ill person in whose presence you are, you need to be aware of their symptom experience as well as the impact you are likely to have upon them.
You need to make sure that the thoughts you have are the right thoughts to have in order to engage with someone long term very ill. If you believe that the person just needs encouragement or can do more, if pushed, you will likely do great harm.
You need to still yourself down. Be focused and aware of the person’s reality: a radically different reality than the one you exist in.
Being too tired can have a devastating impact; your lack of energy can be irritating to the person. They do not need to feel their energy being drained by your presence. If you are too tired, I discover, then this is the time when mistakes are made and carelessness happens.
(For mre imformation on how to care, please see : https://stonebird.co.uk/morenotes/index.html)
Art by Linda Crowhurst

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