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Guide to Managing Caregiver Emotions

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Guide to Managing Caregiver Emotions Welcome to the Caregivers Guide to Managing Negative Emotions By April Adams July 22, 2015 roviding constant care to another person with a chronic illness such as cancer or dementia is caregiving. There are several reasons why a person may need a caregiver. Anyone who needs help with daily essentials such as bathing, eating, dressing, etc. should have a caregiver. Many times the caregiver is a member of the family, and offering the intense care and support that is needed by an ill loved one creates a large amount of stress for the caregiver. If you are a caregiver for a loved one, it's important to recognize the signs of stress and burnout and to seek help before feeling completely overwhelmed. Visit the online version of this guide on: Visit Now 1 Caregivers Guide to Managing Negative Emotions By April Adams • July 22, 2015 Caregiver Stress Providing full-time care for another person by yourself may make you feel like you are choosing the best option for everyone involved. However, you face increased stress, both physical and mental. While some amount of added stress is healthy and is needed to ensure that tasks are completed, stress, especially too much and certain types of stress, can affect you negatively. It is important to recognize the signs of negative stress in order to provide some intervention before things get out of control. A few signs of negative stress to be aware of include feeling more irritable, beginning to feel resentful and neglecting your own responsibilities. You may also notice that you want to eat more or don’t feel that you have time to eat. Having health-related issues pop up or experiencing a recurrence or worsening of previous or current health issues is also a symptom of caregiver stress. It's important to be mindful of what your body is trying to tell you so you can react appropriately. Resources for Managing Caregiver Stress Caregiver Stress: Tips for Taking Care of Yourself helps you identify some of the signs of caregiver stress. It also provides ways you can deal with this stress. It includes thoughts and ideas for those caregivers who have regular employment. Caregiver Stress and Burnout is a resource to help you cope with the overwhelming stress you feel as a caregiver. The tips in this article can help you avoid burnout. It also offers a listing of online support groups you can join for added support. Caregiver Stress Fact Sheet helps you identify exactly what a caregiver is and what he or she does. It also answers several questions, including how to pay for a caregiver as well as how to alleviate stress while providing care. CaregiverStress.com is dedicated to helping you to take care of yourself while offering care of a loved one. This website offers blogs about unique situations that have come up while caregiving and provides insight about how others have dealt with difficult situations. 10 Ways to Deal with Caregiver Stress provides several different tips on how to cope when you are the main caregiver. It offers a list of community resources that can provide assistance. 2 Caregivers Guide to Managing Negative Emotions By April Adams • July 22, 2015 Caregiver Burnout Providing long-term care for another puts you at risk of caregiver burnout. This happens to individuals who try to give more than what they have to offer. This may include over-giving financially, emotionally or physically. Once a caregiver experiences burnout, it is no longer a healthy situation for either person. Some signs of burnout include feeling helpless or hopeless about your situation. You may find yourself neglecting your own health, putting off regular checkups or not taking the time to visit the doctor when you feel ill. Becoming more and more agitated or short with the person you are caring for is another sign of burnout. Resources for Managing Caregiver Burnout What is Caregiver Burnout? This article explains some of the signs of burnout. It also provides some tips, including what to do if you're experiencing depression. This article contains a section of resources that may be helpful. 7 Tried and True Ways to Avoid Caregiver Burnout is a resource that delivers many ideas to help keep you grounded while you are caring for a loved one. It includes information on classes to help you understand your loved one’s disease and the types of obstacles you face. It also provides tips for taking care of yourself. 8 Tips to Combat Caregiver Burnout provides a list of tips to avoid feeling burned out while caring for a loved one. It also discusses financial issues as well as symptoms to watch for that point to burnout. Fighting Caregiver Fatigue is an article that explains which people are most at risk of this medical issue. It also explains ways in which a person can combat caregiver fatigue and stress. Additionally it provides steps to help you maintain your sanity. 6 Signs of Caregiver Burnout offers a list of signs that you have reached caregiver burnout. It explains how to recognize caregiver burnout and what you can do to combat it. 3 Caregivers Guide to Managing Negative Emotions By April Adams • July 22, 2015 Caregiver Anger & Frustration It is common for caregivers to experience anger and frustration. Chances are that at some point you will direct your anger toward the person for whom you are providing care. You may feel guilty about this anger, but rest assured, it is a natural feeling. Anger generally comes from other feelings, such as being overly tired or not getting enough rest. Feelings of angst can also lead to anger. You may also direct your anger toward doctors or care facilities. You may find yourself having angry feelings with insurance companies for not providing the type of care you think your loved one deserves. Several situations can cause you to be angry. Trying to push away those angry feelings will result in even more anger. Remember that anger is part of the natural process. Resources for Managing Caregiver Anger & Frustration Coping With Caregiver Anger is a video where a woman explains some of the anger that comes with caregiving. She explains some situations that may trigger anger as well. She offers thoughts that show you are not alone in your thoughts and feelings. Letting Go of Resentment and Anger as a Caregiver offers ideas about how to deal with negative emotions that many caregivers experience. It also provides tips on how to cope with those emotions and how to change those feelings. Care for the Caregiver is an article that discusses how anger may be involved when dealing with caregiver’s emotions. It explains how and why a caregiver may experience feelings of anger and how to deal with them. Help for Cancer Caregivers explains how to spot caregiver anger and what to do about it, including how to defuse anger in a healthy manner. This resource also has a section that explains when to talk to a healthcare professional. Forgive Yourself as a Caregiver and Relieve Anger is a blog post about how to spot what can and cannot be changed in your world as a caregiver. It provides insight to ways to handle your anger in a constructive manner. This post is located on a blog about Alzheimer’s Disease but is relevant for all caregivers. 4 Caregivers Guide to Managing Negative Emotions By April Adams • July 22, 2015 Caregiver Guilt Being a caregiver also means you experience guilt at one time or another. Many times guilt comes from feeling as though you can or should be doing more. There are also times when you may feel guilty because you can’t be in two places at once. Guilt is another emotion common amongst caregivers, and as a caregiver, it's important to recognize that it is normal to have feelings of guilt. Guilty feelings also stem from being a perfectionist. Having feelings that you need to take care of everything for your loved one because others aren't able to do it as well as you is a perfect setup for guilt. By not allowing others to help care for your loved one, you are hindering your own emotional health. By allowing others to help, you and your loved one will be much better off in the end. Resources for Managing Caregiver Guilt Feel at Peace: Lose the Caregiver Guilt is an article that explains a couple of situations that can happen during caregiving and how to handle the guilt. Tips for Caregivers to Help Lessen the Guilt provides several tips on how to work through guilty feelings. It also explains how to lessen guilt by forgiving yourself and how to respond to your loved one’s disease. Eight Tips to Managing Caregiver Guilt explains that guilty feelings are normal. It also provides tips, both short and long-term, to help you manage this emotion. Say Goodbye to Caregiver Guilt is a great resource to help let go of the grip guilt has on you as a caregiver. It offers 10 tips to help you put your priorities in order. Some of these tips include setting limits, creating priorities and much more. 9 Tips for Coping with Remote Caregiver Guilt provides a list of tips to lessen the burden and guilt from being far away from your loved one. 5 Caregivers Guide to Managing Negative Emotions By April Adams • July 22, 2015 Getting Help for the Caregiver Providing care for an ailing loved one can be rewarding, but it can also be a challenge.
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