At Catholic Healthcare, we recognise the extremely important role loved ones play in supporting the daily care needs of clients. During this uncertain time, with day centres closed and opportunities to participate in your usual activities limited, it’s important to also care for the carer.
While caring is rewarding and can be seen in a positive light, the physical and mental health implications can sometimes take a toll.
Some signs of carer burnout include:
- Overwhelming fatigue
- Sleep problems (too much or too little)
- Changes in eating habits, weight loss or gain
- A feeling of hopelessness
- Withdrawing from, or losing interest in, activities you once enjoyed
- Neglecting your own physical and emotional needs
- Feeling like caregiving is controlling your life
- Becoming unusually impatient, irritable or argumentative with the person you’re caring for and/or with others
- Anxiety about the future
- Depression or mood swings
- Difficulty coping with everyday things
- Headaches, stomach-aches, and other physical problems
- Lowered resistance to illness
Ask for help! Needing help doesn’t make you a bad carer. It simply means you can’t do it alone (no one can do it alone).
Give yourself permission to take breaks. Get out of the house. Visit with friends. Pamper yourself with a massage. Take a long bath.
Take care of yourself. Don’t skip your own doctor’s appointments because you’re too busy. Exercise, eat well and get enough sleep.
Get up 15 minutes earlier and use the time just for you. Sit with your coffee or tea and enjoy it. Journal about your struggles and feelings. Meditate, pray, stretch… Do whatever you want to do.
Make a list of your daily activities and tasks. See if you can delegate any of them. Perhaps your spouse can make dinner twice or a week. Maybe a friend or relative can run errands or help with laundry. People often want to help—take them up on it!
Check into family-leave benefits from your place of work. Take a huge weight off your shoulders by giving you more hours in your day.
If your loved one is receiving paid care, ask your care provider about local support groups. Communicating with others who are in your situation helps immensely, as does opening up and sharing your frustrations—and your joys!
If an opportunity comes along for a brief getaway for you (when not in lockdown), consider respite care for your loved one.
Some websites you may wish to visit for further information on support for caring for others: