Caregivers suffer “extraordinary” rates of depression and have the lowest level of wellbeing of any group in society.
Their dissatisfaction with all aspects of life is more pronounced than other groups such as the unemployed who live alone and people on very low incomes.
“This is truly sad stuff,” said Robert Cummins, of the school of psychology at Deakin University.
“We have been doing research in this area for more than six years … and I’m not aware of any group that has ever been found to have a wellbeing score as low as carers.”