8 Ways to Decrease Caregiver Stress
These eight ways to decrease caregiver stress will help you take better care of yourself and your loved ones. Coping with caregiver stress will make you more physically and emotionally healthy, and give you energy for the long haul!
“Do you find it hard to ask for help? Do you do everything yourself?” asks Peggy Collins, a speaker, trainer and author of Help is Not a Four-Letter Word: Why Doing It All Is Doing You In. “Then you may be struggling with caregiver stress. Other signs include wanting to be in control of everything and not delegating because no one can do it as well as you. Those are also signs of ”Self-Sufficiency Syndrome’.”
To learn more about decreasing stress by asking for help, click on Collins’ book. And read on to learn how to decrease caregiver stress and overcome ”Self-Sufficiency Syndrome”…
What is “Self-Sufficiency Syndrome”?
“Many caregivers were raised to believe that asking for help is a weakness,” says Collins. “And if they were raised in a home where they did not learn to trust, then they have hidden behind this honored value as a way to avoid depending on anyone else. I call this extreme lifestyle The Self-Sufficiency Syndrome.”
Some symptoms of Self-Sufficiency Syndrome and caregiver stress include extreme fatigue, irritableness, inability to sleep, and even panic attacks, anxiety disorders – or and even depression. If you’re a mother and a caregiver, read 6 Tips for Managing Stress for Moms.
8 Ways to Decrease Caregiver Stress
To decrease caregiver stress, Collins says that the first thing is to become aware that you’re operating in the “Self-Sufficiency Syndrome” mode.
1. Seek the help of a therapist to guide you through the process of balancing the care of your loved one while taking care of yourself. You can’t take good care of others if you can’t take care of yourself!
2. Join a support group of like-minded folk to decrease caregiver stress. Attend meetings, and ask someone else to take care of some of your responsibilities.
3. Build a support team of friends, neighbors, relatives who can relieve you, so you can get out, to walk in the woods, to attend church, to go shopping or to a movie. Having others to lean on will decrease caregiver stress. If you’re dealing with toxic or difficult parents, read 3 Tips for Adult Children of Difficult Parents.
4. Deal with the tremendous sense of guilt many caregivers experience when they turn “their responsibility” over to someone else, even for a short time. They feel like they are failing at their responsibility, and failing the person they’re taking care of. Both the therapist and the support group can help with Self-Sufficiency Syndrome.
5. Get exercise to stay healthy and build stamina. Exercise will also help with the emotional aspects of the caregiving, help you sleep better, and improve your mood.
6. Journal your feelings. Many times, the patient is a spouse and the caregiver is in the first stages of grief over an impending death. Journaling has been cited as a very effective and healthy way to get those feelings out.
7. Do meditation or relaxation exercises. Meditate in another room for 15 or 20 minutes – even once a day can help decrease caregiver stress.
8. Realize that when you ask for help, you’re giving someone else a gift: the dignity of helping you! Those around you don’t want to watch you struggle alone.
Related Reading: If your brother or sister’s struggles with alcohol is a source of stress, read 6 Ways to Help an Alcoholic Sibling. If your child is an energy vampire, read Tips for Coping With Children Who Are Energy Vampires.
What have we missed? If you have any questions or thoughts on decreasing caregiver stress, please share below…
Peggy Collins is a speaker, trainer and author. Visit her website at HelpIsNotaFourLetterWord.
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