When you first become a caregiver, you probably know that it’s going to be difficult and challenging, but you might not expect caregiving to be one of the most stressful things you ever do. That’s often what happens, though. Taking some action to deal properly with stress can change how that unfolds for you and for your elderly family member.
Find a Way to Use Routines to Your Advantage
Chaos factors a lot more into stress than most people realize. It’s why a messy desk or countertop can make you feel tense and moody, even if you want all of that stuff right there. Time chaos often erupts when you don’t have established routines in place to meet the needs of everyone involved. When you take the time to stack habits and routines in a way that makes sense throughout the day, you can reduce a lot more stress than you expect.
Learn to Let Go
Holding onto expectations that are too large is also a recipe for disaster. It can mean that you end up trying to make sure that everything in your senior’s situation is perfect or is handled perfectly all the time, and that’s unreasonable. If you’re laboring under those types of expectations, you’re going to end up disappointing yourself and feeling the strain of those demands.
Figure out How to Vent Your Frustrations
There are healthy ways to deal with how you’re feeling and there are ways to manage those emotions that are not as productive. For instance, you can deal with how you’re feeling by talking to a friend, journaling, and exercising. All of those have stress relieving components and they can give you other benefits as well. Less productive options tend to bring other problems along with them that end up making everything worse.
Get Some Help When Things Are Feeling Too Big
Having some help from home care service providers is going to do far more in preventing stress responses than you might expect. Home care service aides can help you to find and to adhere to routines that work for your elderly family member. They can also help you to see when you’re possibly expecting more from yourself or from a situation than is accurate for that situation.
You can’t prevent all stress, but you can improve how you handle it and you can reduce its impact on your life and your experience as a caregiver.