How do I Manage Caregiver Stress?

Caregiver stress is a very real aspect of taking care of people with chronic illnesses, whether the caregiver is a professional or a family member. There are daunting statistics about the number of people needing care who are abused by loved ones or professionals, and some of this may arise from the high degree of stress the job entails. Naturally, not all people abuse their charges and many people offer consistently excellent care, but they can begin to experience a number of symptoms suggesting they are suffering from high stress work. These can include depression or anxiety, a sense of burnout, neglect of personal, emotional or physical health, and many others. To minimize caregiver stress is thus a lofty goal, and one that can be achieved in multiple ways, through individual or group support, with respite and break opportunities, and through learning more efficient means to provide care.

Support to relieve caregiver stress can take many forms. Some people benefit from seeking individual counseling, and others find they are most comfortable participating in group support. The latter gives people opportunities to receive empathy from others who are experiencing similar things, and this may be of use to professionals or family.

Many hospitals and other places that provide professional care have ongoing support groups for their workers, and there are lots of family member groups especially through organizations that support research and information dissemination about certain types of diseases. More generally, groups like Hospice may be able to help caregivers who are providing care for family members with terminal conditions. These groups and individual therapy provide a means for a caregiver to turn attention onto the self, which they may not be able to do most other times. This attention is considered vital in helping to prevent burnout or huge amounts of stress.

Caregivers need breaks too. Providing constant support to others can create resentment and fuel caregiver stress. In professional settings, most people work by the clock, but in home settings run by family, people don’t necessarily have this luxury.

Yet there are some ways to get these needed breaks including by using respite care services, occasionally hiring a professional backup, asking another family member to take charge, or having those cared for visit day care centers. When life is only about the ill person, it can be impossible to have any type of perspective, and it’s therefore urged that people take advantage of one or more of these options. They provide distance from the situation for a short while and let people perform any tasks that are needed but can’t be accomplished most other times.

Especially in family settings, caregivers are often served by having greater knowledge about how to manage their loved ones and about any illness from which the loved one suffers. Again, organizations can prove a vital resource so people can become more educated. Doctors and other medical personnel may also help. Learning how to do things more efficiently or correctly can be of use also because it can help people prevent higher stress situations or personal injury from such things as improper lifting.

In the end, there’s no way to fully eliminate caregiver stress, but there are ways to minimize it. Getting group or individual support is a good place to start. Learning how to build in breaks to take care of the self is another important feature. Caring from a place of knowledge instead of ignorance is greatly useful, too, helping people to provide the best care for loved ones.