Caring for caregivers: How to prioritize your well-being
Caregiving is a role that requires significant energy, patience, and resilience. Whether providing care as a health care worker or tending to someone at home, being a caregiver can be an overwhelming task.
Caregivers assist in jobs like preparing meals, helping with a daily routine like bathing, toileting,
getting dressed or brushing hair, managing medication, and monitoring health amongst other things.
They may also be involved in advocating and communicating the person's needs with healthcare
providers or agencies.
Sometimes, caregivers put so much of their energy into helping others that they forget about
themselves. The fact remains, though: your health and well-being matter just as much as the person
you're caring for. If the caregiver neglects their own health, they are susceptible to stress, burnout,
or even compassion fatigue.
Caregiver burnout
Taking care of another person can be a tedious job. Caregivers may face a prominent level of stress
during caregiving. Caregiving stress can sometimes transform into burnout, which is a state of
physical mental, and emotional exhaustion resulting from dedicating a lot of time and energy to help
another individual maintain their health and safety. Caregiver burnout can impact a person in many
ways, and they may feel tired depressed or withdrawn.
You might not realize how providing care impacts your own health and well-being as a caregiver
because you are so preoccupied with your loved one. Feeling overburdened or always concerned,
feeling worn out all the time, sleeping insufficiently or excessively, and getting annoyed or enraged
easily are some signs of being burned out.
Mental Health support for caregivers
The ongoing strain of providing care can have a negative impact on the physical and emotional well- being of those providing it. Since mental illness is often a chronic and demanding condition, caregivers for patients with mental illness experience stress, anxiety, and depression. Due to the heavy weight that comes with being a caregiver, many individuals require assistance from mental health specialists. It is critical that mental health practitioners recognize the needs of family caregivers, and the difficulties they experience, and implement appropriate interventions to lessen the load and support the development of healthy coping mechanisms. Caregivers can benefit from the following: