Becoming a caregiver may cause you to experience a variety of negative emotions that could lead to burnout. You need to find ways to manage these emotions before they damage your mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. Take a look at some of the most common emotions family caregivers experience.
1. Bitterness
Devoting all of your time to caregiving could take a toll on your emotional health. Seeing other family members living their lives and accomplishing their goals could make you feel bitter at times. To prevent bitterness, you need to find a balance between your personal life and your caregiving duties.
Consider hiring a professional caregiver if you need a break from your caregiving duties to manage your personal and professional responsibilities. Although it may be challenging to find reliable, highly rated senior care, you can turn to Assisting Hands Home Care. Our caregivers are expertly trained to assist seniors with a wide array of important tasks, including cooking, bathing, light housekeeping, and exercise.
2. Fear
In the event your loved one isn’t recovering from an accident or injury, you may be afraid he or she will never get better. You must remain calm and provide your loved one with high-quality care. Remember your loved one’s body is experiencing changes that could make the recovery process longer.
3. Irritation
If your loved one faces difficulty managing certain daily tasks, you might feel irritated when doing those tasks for him or her. You may also become irritated if your loved one is having memory issues that cause him or her to repeat the same questions. Remain positive and consider hiring a caregiver who specializes in the type of care your loved one needs.
4. Desire to Control
Some family caregivers try to manage all of their loved one’s caregiving tasks on their own, and this controlling behavior could cause them to experience burnout. Remember to enlist help from as many people as possible to give yourself some time off.
5. Sadness
Your risk of depression could increase due to lack of sleep or feelings of helplessness. To combat sadness and prevent depression, you need to speak with someone who can help you through difficult times. Having friends to lean on is always helpful for family caregivers.
6. Grief
Watching your loved one’s memory, vision, and ability to move decrease could take a toll on you. Speak with someone about these changes, such as members of a caregiver support group. You can vent to these people and receive tips to help your loved one manage several age-related changes.
7. Guilt
When you do things you enjoy while your loved one’s health is worsening, you may experience guilt. Remember it’s okay to continue living your life. You should take regular breaks to go on outings with other family members and friends.
Caring for a senior loved one can be rewarding, but it can also be overwhelming for family caregivers who have other responsibilities they need to focus on. For these families, the perfect solution is respite care. Potomac families rely on our caregivers whenever they need time to rest, work, run errands, and even go on vacation.
8. Disgust
If your loved one has incontinence issues or difficulty eating or bathing, you may feel disgusted at times. Remember your loved one isn’t in control of his or her behaviors. Talk to your loved one’s doctor or join a support group to learn new tips on how to help your loved one without feeling disgusted.
9. Boredom
If you fail to maintain a social life outside of caregiving, you may experience boredom, which could lead to depression. To prevent boredom, ask family and friends to help out, or use in-home respite care to allow time to do things you enjoy.
10. Frustration
Things won’t always go as planned, but you need to keep on trying. Failing to control feelings of frustration could lead to stress eating, a short temper, substance abuse, and other issues. It’s important to take breaks and accept your best, regardless of the results.
Hiring professional caregivers is one of the best ways family members can delegate caregiving duties to others and keep negative emotions at bay. The type of home care Potomac seniors need can vary. Some need assistance a few hours a day, while others require more extensive around-the-clock assistance. At Assisting Hands Home Care, we tailor our care plans based on each senior’s individual care needs, and the plans can be adjusted at any time. We are a trusted provider of respite and 24-hour care, and we also offer specialized Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, and stroke care for seniors. If your loved one needs help with the challenges of aging, call one of our compassionate Care Specialists today.
