Caregiver Stress can lead to burnout
My husband took the kids to school and then went to work. I didn’t have to be at work so I was being a little slow getting motivated for the day. Then my sister calls me and says, “ Daddy is having a heart attack and the paramedics are doing CPR.”
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While at work my husband calls me and says, “ Something is wrong with your mom she is tired and talking funny.” My mom had a stroke.
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These two events happened 17 months apart and changed my life. Now I needed to take care of my mom and dad but also I needed to care for my kids and husband. I was running my self-ragged trying to take care of everyone. I felt tired all the time and was easily agitated. I would feel very guilty because my mom and dad needed help but I felt overwhelmed, tired, and moody.
How could I allow stress to get the best of me? Being a nurse I have talked about the warning signs of stress with my patients and their families but I was stressed to the max before I realized it.
I was not taking care of myself.
Ask for help.
Stress is a real health risk. I cannot emphasize enough learning the symptoms of stress. Click here for symptoms of stress from webmd.com.
For me, I had to identify what I could change and what I could not. I asked myself, “What do I have some control over? What can I change?”. What I could not change, I asked for help.
I started A Remedy Home Care to help others in their time of need. Many caregivers find it hard to ask for help, they do not wish to “burden” others or admit that they can’t handle everything.
Caregiver stress is real and overwhelming but asking for help will alleviate stress.
The challenges we face as caregivers are well expressed in the following words:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
and (the) wisdom to know the difference.”
Reinhold Niebuhr