If you help care for an aging or disabled family member, it’s likely that you’ve dealt with caregiver stress or burnout. Every year, over 15 million Americans provide, on average, over a thousand hours of unpaid care and support to family members, and the toll of all that work can add up.
As America celebrates our second annual National Family Caregivers Month, Visiting Angels is proud to recognize and pay tribute to the many Americans who contribute to a family member’s care. To help ease what can sometimes feel like an overwhelming responsibility, we’ve put together the following short guide to avoiding caregiver stress and burnout.
As a family caregiver, it’s hard to avoid stress and burnout if you’re unaware of the signs associated with caregiver stress. If you contribute significantly to a disabled or elderly family member’s care, you should be on the lookout for signs that you’re overwhelming yourself.
Common signs of stress among family caregivers can include:
If you start to notice one or more of these signs in yourself, you may be experiencing caregiver stress and putting yourself at risk for burnout. In this case, it’s important that you take steps to alleviate stress.
Many family caregivers suffering from stress put off self-care until it’s too late. Often, family caregivers feel so pressed for time that they cannot imagine taking time for themselves. But in the long run, this mindset can have a damaging effect not only on you as a caregiver, but also on your relationships with friends, family, and the person you care for.
There are number of ways that family caregivers can manage stress and reduce their risk of burnout. These include:
However you manage caregiver stress, just remember that the benefits of self-care are worth it. As Larry Meigs, President and CEO of Visiting Angels, says, “Family caregivers remain some of our country’s greatest unsung heroes. It’s important that we recognize they need time to care for themselves as much as they care for others.”
If you feel that outside help may be necessary to curb the stress you feel while caring for a loved one, support from a professional care provider may help. Call today to speak with your local Visiting Angels agency about respite care options. We’ve helped many family caregivers find peace of mind.
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