Care­giv­ing is a tough job.

Watch­ing a par­ent age or see­ing some­one change dras­ti­cal­ly due to ill­ness can be dev­as­tat­ing. Har­vard Health re­ports, “Ap­prox­i­mate­ly 70 per­cent of care­givers in­di­cat­ed they don’t see their doc­tor reg­u­lar­ly be­cause of their re­spon­si­bil­i­ties.” Main­tain­ing your own well­be­ing is cru­cial, but of­ten dif­fi­cult. If you are not sleep­ing well, ex­er­cis­ing, or feel your­self be­com­ing reclu­sive, speak to a health care pro­fes­sion­al about de­pres­sion. It can hit any­one, at any time.

What is Care­giv­er Stress Syn­drome?

Care­giv­er stress syn­drome is a con­di­tion char­ac­terised by phys­i­cal, men­tal and emo­tion­al ex­haus­tion. It typ­i­cal­ly re­sults from a per­son ne­glect­ing their own phys­i­cal and emo­tion­al health be­cause they are fo­cused on car­ing for an ill, in­jured or dis­abled loved one.

Care­givers put un­re­al­is­tic ex­pec­ta­tions on them­selves, think­ing that they can do it all and re­fus­ing to ask for help. There are sev­er­al fac­tors that can play a role in care­giv­er stress syn­drome. For some care­givers, the stress­es of car­ing for a per­son who has a de­bil­i­tat­ing ill­ness, feel­ing help­less while care­giv­ing, re­sults in burnout. For oth­ers, the lack of bound­aries be­tween their roles as a care­giv­er and a spouse, child, or oth­er loved one can be chal­leng­ing. The fi­nan­cial re­sources need­ed to care for some­one with a long-term ill­ness or dis­abil­i­ty al­so con­tributes to the over­whelm.

What can I do to pre­vent or re­lieve care­giv­er stress?

Tak­ing steps to pre­vent or re­lieve care­giv­er stress WILL help pre­vent Burnout and fur­ther health prob­lems.

Some SELF-CARE tips:

1. Stay in touch with fam­i­ly and friends.

It’s im­por­tant for you to have emo­tion­al sup­port so your “care­giv­ing cup” is re­plen­ished.

2. Ask for and ac­cept help.

Make a list of ways oth­ers can help you. Let helpers choose what they would like to do. For in­stance, some­one might sit with the per­son you care for while you do an er­rand. Some­one else might pick up gro­ceries for you.

3. Find care­giv­ing re­sources in your com­mu­ni­ty to help you.

Many com­mu­ni­ties have adult day­care ser­vices or respite ser­vices. Us­ing one of these can give you a break from your care­giv­ing du­ties.

4. Take care of your own health.

Try to find time to be phys­i­cal­ly ac­tive on most days of the week, choose healthy foods and get enough sleep. Make sure that you keep up with your med­ical care such as reg­u­lar check­ups and screen­ings.

5. Con­sid­er tak­ing a break from your job.

This may be a dif­fi­cult de­ci­sion if you are the sole source of in­come, but pro­gres­sive or­gan­i­sa­tions are em­pa­thet­ic. Check with your em­ploy­er, specif­i­cal­ly the hu­man re­sources de­part­ment of­fice about your op­tions.

Care­giv­er stress syn­drome does not have to be your re­al­i­ty. While it can have a neg­a­tive im­pact on your life and well-be­ing, there are ways to re­cov­er, and to be a hap­pi­er, health­i­er care­giv­er for your loved one. By tak­ing time for your­self and fo­cus­ing on your own needs, you can avoid the per­ils of care­giv­er stress syn­drome.

Re­mem­ber that if you feel bet­ter, you can take bet­ter care of your loved one.