iSavta | 16.02.2021
Caregiver burnout, in simple words, is the exhaustion that affects one's physical, emotional, and mental state. It is characterized by fatigue, chronic stress, anxiety, and depression that may lead to a poor way of caring for the elderly. A caregiver who is experiencing burnout has a tendency to neglect and abuse the person they are caring for.
There are a number of signs that can tell you if you are undergoing caregiver burnout. The list includes a change in eating pattern, frequent headaches and body pain, irritability, impatience, uncontrolled anger, hopelessness, mistreatment of the care recipient, and the feeling of wanting to be alone.
Caregivers who experience burnout have neglected self-care because of their responsibility in taking care of others. One has to take note that if self-care is unattended, it will also lead to unconcerned care for a senior or any other care recipient. Caregivers may experience burn-out because of a number of factors. This includes an expectation that their care could positively impact the health of the patient. Although it is a good expectation, this sounds improbable for people with Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. Those care recipients with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease have increased memory loss and impaired movement of the different parts of the body, respectively. Both are very difficult to attend to because the disease progresses through time. Thus, there is no way that the care recipient’s condition will improve. Expecting any improvement for these conditions mentioned will just add up to the stress that the caregiver is already experiencing and will eventually lead to burnout.
Caregiver burnout is a serious problem but it is something that you can fix. If you think you are having burnout, it would be great to do the following before giving up your caregiving career.
- Ask help
This does not necessarily mean asking others to do your caregiving tasks. Instead, you can join caregiver support groups may it be physically or virtually. Having like-minded individuals come together in one place or one virtual chatroom and sharing each other's stories will somehow ease your stress. You can also ask for some tips in handling your care received from the members of the caregiver support groups. It is relieving to share your caregiving experiences with one another. Support for one another is a natural phenomenon. As the saying goes: no man is an island!
- Change your mindset
Have a positive mindset. Although caregiving is a demanding and stressful job, it also comes with rewards. Aside from the good paycheck, this job will also give you other benefits such as not having to commute to work daily. If you are an in-home caregiver, you would most likely prepare meals for your care recipient. Thus, there is a big chance that you will perfect your recipes and learn new ones. As an in-home caregiver, you will also have plenty of time doing some of your indoor hobbies such as arts and crafts. You could also play some online games if you are a gamer or edit videos if that is your craft. Whatever long-lost hobbies you had, for sure, there will be ample time for that since you will work from home. If you just practice being thankful for what you have and see the good side of having a caregiving career more, then you will learn to appreciate what you have that others do not and enjoy the job and its perks.
- Give yourself a time-off
You do not have to work the whole week if you are given at least a day in the week to spend time for yourself. If you feel the need to do overtime work because you totally enjoy staying at home and having extra money, then do so. However, remember that taking a time off will not only give you a stress-free day but also help you recharge. Remember, rest is equally as important as work because it will improve your overall health. Having rest will improve your focus and mood, decrease your stress, and increase your productivity.
As you perform your caregiving duties, you may be subject to some serious stress which could lead to burnout. Thus, your current state of health – physical, mental, and emotional health are very important. But, before you decide to give up your caregiving career, always think about the benefits you get from it.
