Stress, Stress, Go Away! Don’t Come Again Another Day!
Bless caregivers, because most people couldn’t take the stress of their job. Not everyone is built to care for a sick or disabled person on a personal level, like helping them take a bath, use the toilet, or deal with confusion when their condition is worsening.
Compared to the challenges of some other jobs, we could say that a caregiver’s stress is at a critical level—and should come with a wailing siren and an overhead speaker shouting “Warning! Warning!”
Caregivers can often feel like something’s going to fall apart at any minute, like they’re on a ship about to sink or holding a ticking bomb, milliseconds away from exploding.
If you are a caregiver, you might be nodding your head right now and hoping all your worries will one day magically disappear.
So now that we are talking about it, what are common causes of caregiver stress?
1. Physical demands.
Caregiving involves a lot of lifting, pushing, pulling, prolonged standing, running, and the list goes on. Sometimes due to the urgency of a particular task, caregivers forget to use proper body mechanics. Backaches are a common consequence as well as sore or pulled muscles.
For family or live-in caregivers, it can also mean lack of sleep, especially if the patient needs constant care and attention, even as they sleep. Imagine going to bed way past midnight, after doing household chores for an elderly client with Alzheimer’s disease, only to wake up at 3 am to look for the patient, who has gotten lost on their way to the toilet. The next thing you know, morning has come and new tasks are waiting to be done.
Caregivers also struggle with their own nutrition and hydration. There are times that they can’t eat meals on time, eat nutritious foods, or drink when they are thirsty, as the demands of the job prevent them from taking time to prepare healthy foods or drink water to stay hydrated. They resort to eating microwavable or processed foods that contain high amounts of preservatives and other unhealthy ingredients.
2. Emotional roller coaster.
Caring for a patient can get emotionally exhausting at times, especially if your patient is struggling to keep it together themselves. Due to pain, frustrations, and other reasons, patients are sometimes angry, irritable, or unreasonable and they lash out at their caregivers. The caregiver, on the other hand, usually just takes it or reacts negatively. The result can be depression or anxiety on the part of the caregiver, who often feels helpless in these situations.
3. Lack of socialization.
The demands of the job keep caregivers often alone, not because they want to be, but because they have to or because they would rather take a nap or have much-needed time away. The stress comes from the realization that family time and bonding with friends become second priority.
4. Lack of “me time” and or almost anything else.
The caregiver's dedication to their job and genuine concern for the person they care for make them give all their time working to see improvements. They tend to neglect their own needs for the sake of their patients. After some time, the caregiver feels deprived and can feel strained and depressed.
Caregiver stress is all too real. In some, it even leads to burnout. But in the end, it is overcoming challenges while really helping someone that makes this job truly worth cherishing. Without the bumps in the road, success would not be as rewarding. Don’t let the stresses of the job keep you from achieving your purpose, which is providing impeccable care while learning important life lessons.
