Caregiver burnout is a very real condition that affects caregivers who are responsible for the daily welfare and happiness of family members who have long term disabilities or illnesses. If you’re caring for a parent or parents who are elderly and have many different health challenges you’re a caregiver. And you can develop caregiver burnout. Home care assistance offers respite care that allows you to attend to your own life and health with the peace of mind of knowing that your senior loved ones are being taken care of.
Caring for senior loved ones with progressive conditions like Parkinson’s disease or Alzheimer’s often speeds up the development of caregiver burnout but just taking care of a senior parent can cause burnout. Your senior loved one doesn’t need to have been diagnosed with a serious illness for your burnout to be legitimate. That’s why it’s absolutely essential for caregivers to seek home care assistance for their senior loved ones that are aging in place.
Symptoms Of Caregiver Burnout
The symptoms of caregiver burnout vary from person to person. They vary in intensity too. You’re probably aware of the more severe symptoms of caregiver burnout like bursting into tears in the store or at work or having a breakdown in your car at least once a week. But you may not be aware of these three early symptoms of caregiver burnout.
If you start noticing these symptoms you should bring in home care assistance and take a break immediately before your caregiver burnout gets worse:
Sleeping More
Whether or not you have sleeping problems if you notice that you are sleeping more at night, or if you suddenly can’t get through the day without a nap that’s an early sign of caregiver burnout. It’s your body’s way of telling you that you need a break. The mind and body processes emotions and events when you sleep. When you are tired all the time your body is telling you it needs a break in order to process everything that you’re going through.
Not Feeling Anything
When was the last time you experienced any real joy? Did you smile at your kids today? Or laugh when you were playing golf with a friend last week? Were you excited to start a new creative hobby last month? If not that could be a sign of caregiver burnout. If you feel like you are just going through the motions of living and you don’t have any real emotion when you are going about your day that’s a sign that you’re dissociating and that’s a sign of burnout.
Getting Sick
If you have a cold that you just can’t shake or if you find that you’re getting sick over and over again that can be due to caregiver burnout. It’s a sign that your body is so depleted that it’s unable to fight off germs. And that means it’s time for a break. Get some home care assistance for your senior loved ones and give yourself a week off.
Sources: https://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/caregiver-recognizing-burnout#1
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/9225-caregiver-burnout