Caregiving is an artful balance of providing for someone you care for deeply and making sure your own needs aren’t being neglected. It’s essential to determine your own limitations and care for yourself as well as others. Also, it’s important to make sure you’re aware of the signs of burnout. And if close friends and colleagues start to comment about noticing your decreased energy or mood changes, it’s time to seriously consider if you’re heading toward burnout.
What are the signs of burnout?
If you exhibit these signs of burnout, it’s time for you to take charge of your situation and make some changes.
For example:
Burnout is real, and it’s completely understandable: caregiving can be filled with moments of extreme stress and anxiety. So taking steps to comfort and/or re-energize yourself is not only “all right” to do, it’s absolutely necessary. In some ways, taking care of yourself should be considered your first priority, because it’s critical to your ability to successfully take care of others.
You'll especially want to check out the group dedicated to caregiving issues here!
March 15, 2008 welovematthew said:
This is some great information. My father is my brother's home healthcare worker as well as being his primary caregiver because he went into semi-retirement a couple of years ago. I'm glad this is here so i can take note of these suggetsions as well as pass them onto my father. Dad's already a workaholic so we don't want him to get too frazzled. Thanks again for a great article!!
November 22, 2008 Anonymous said:
Good observance of what I call "Caregiver Syndrome" (for lack of better name). But you must also note that the same signs appear in people with a disability living alone.
* A sense of ongoing and constant fatigue.
* Decreasing interest in work.
* Decrease in work production.
* Withdrawal from social contacts.
* Increase in use of stimulants and alcohol.
* Increasing fear of death.
* Change in eating patterns.
* Feelings of helplessness.
I have seen it in many others living alone, like myself. A lot of us use a form of denial; not for the disease, for the way around the “Signs”. I my self spend hours searching the Net for answers to MS questions. Not so much for myself; but to create communication for those that I know, that are alone. Via E-Mail, telephone, Blogs and sometimes chat. Chat area’s are not very conducive to MS’ers, ie. those pesky cognitive issues, telling the fingers that you can type and spell at the same time and even the fatigue involved in putting a thought in to a print form.
I often find myself talking to the computer, TV, and even myself; generally do that into a mirror so as I can say I was talking to someone. Only thing is that guy in the mirror never really challenges my reasoning on things.
Take Care,
John Hare
jdhare@q.com
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