Managing care-giver’s stress

Are you caring for a loved one who has suffered from disability, a disease or some health related problem? Are you starting to feel the stress or realized you have not been ‘nice’ to yourself for a long time?

Being a care-giver can be fulfilling and energy draining at the same time. It is fulfilling because you treasure the relationship between yourself and the person you are caring for, caring for him/her is a way to say you love them. But sometimes it can be draining both physically and emotionally, especially if you do not have support from people around you. What you need to prevent is entering caregiver stress or burn out. Caregivers stress or burnout may result in putting your own health, relationships and state of mind on the line.

Identifying the signs

Take time to sit down and think through if you are experiencing any of these signs:

• Constantly worried about the person you are caring for

• Feeling tired more often compared to previous

• Having difficulty sleeping or tend to sleep more than before

• Easily irritated

• Gaining or losing weight

• Distancing yourself from people

• Losing interest in activities you used to do

• Feeling sad or down

• Having frequent headaches

• abusing alcohol or drugs/medications

These are signs of stress and chronic stress without intervention can harm your health or slip into depression or anxiety. It is important to identify these signs and seek help as soon as possible.

Ways to deal with stress

Remember, you are not alone. We will be sharing about Food for mood in our next post, stay tuned!