It can happen to any of us – we can end up as a dear loved one’s caregiver. On average 1 in 3 adults in the US help a family member or is an informal caregiver. Simply put, a caregiver is someone who provides care for another person and a lot of times this person is a senior individual. Caregivers often do meal prepping, helping with hygiene tasks, medical tasks or even helping with pet care. Caregiving is often emotionally and mentally taxing. Many caregivers can experience stress and burnout while giving the care that their loved one needs. If you have found yourself in the caregiver role, then this post is for you. In this post you find ways to mitigate stress and burnout, and help you take care of yourself.

Identifying Signs of Burnout or Stress

There are many different signs of burnout or stress, and these can negatively affect your physical and mental wellbeing. Signs of these two things can include feeling sad or depressed, not sleeping, or oversleeping, losing or gaining weight, stomachaches, headaches, or you find yourself easily angered or even missing things such as your own medical appointments. 

Dictionary.com defines stress as: a specific response by the body to a stimulus, as fear or pain, that disturbs or interferes with the normal physiological equilibrium of an organism.

Stress is an immediate reaction to something challenging or a large demand. Stress is the feeling that most likely popped up the moment you realized you needed to be a caregiver. If not given a chance to relax or recharge, stress can really manage to take its toll.

Dictionary.com defines burnout as: fatigue, frustration, or apathy resulting from prolonged stress, overwork, or intense activity.

Burnout is different from stress as it is the result of an onslaught of stress. Burnout can actually affect you more mentally and emotionally where stress tends to manifest itself as physical. As someone who looks after seniors as a caregiver you are constantly on the alert and this can cause you to feel emotionally exhausted. 

Ways to Manage Caregiver Stress and Burnout

There are many ways to combat stress, and the possible burnout of taking care of someone. Do not ignore the signs that you – yourself – are experiencing any type of stress or burnout. If you feel any of the above signs, make sure to start taking care of yourself. Self-care is incredibly important. What is self-care exactly? Self-care is the act of consciously taking care of yourself. It is the act of making sure that you have what you need. You are helping someone else as a caregiver, why can’t you take care of yourself as well? The below tips will help you in finding ways to de-stress and to avoid burnout while taking care of yourself.

Staying Connected

Reach out to people for help and accept that help when offered. Is there someone that you can reach out to too, that can help with the physical and emotional aspects of caregiving?  Make sure to connect with friends and loved ones, don’t isolate yourself while going through something so intense and possibly life changing. If you can try to find a support group either near you or online, you are not the only person going through this. Friends can help prop you in times of need, make sure that you are giving yourself time to connect with them. This could be in the form of a brief phone call, facetime, a short text, or even an email, doing these things can help lift you up. 

Therapy

Therapy can help immensely in battling stress and burnout. Having someone to talk to about your hardships can make a world of difference. If you don’t have time in your schedule to visit a therapist in person, consider phone appointments (telehealth) or therapy online. It is much easier to schedule an appointment that you can do from the living room, or on a lunch break than trying the traditional in-office approach. It’s easy, convenient, and super flexible. Therapy online is shown to have the same effects as therapy in a traditional setting. Through therapy you can learn techniques that can help you battle the stress and anxiety that you are going through. A lot of times your therapy online, and in person can be covered by your insurance.

Over the past few years scientists have discovered that life experiences can affect our brains. When we encounter something new, learn something new or face a new situation (such as caregiving) it can cause our brains to change in structure and function. This is called neuroplasticity. Depending on the type of therapy that you choose to do; psychotherapy, behavioral therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy, and humanistic therapy are the 4 main types.

When dealing with a therapist for a short period of time most people focus on cognitive behavioral therapy which is similar to counseling. This type of therapy focuses on existing symptoms and ways to make changes. This can help replace the negative thoughts, and how to focus on what is going well in your life despite the hardships you may be facing.

Counseling

While similar to therapy, counseling tends to focus on short term goals and short-term specific life changes. You will have a set goal in mind and work on achieving that. Therapy tends to deeper into the background of why you may be feeling what you are feeling while counseling focuses more on the here and now. This tends to be very beneficial for a caregiver, especially if the person you are giving care to is a senior. 

Hobbies

Maintain or start a hobby, this can help you keep fresh and grounded. It will help elevate your mind from what is going on. Making sure that it is one that you actually find enjoyable is key. If it starts to feel like a chore, perhaps changing the hobby is the right decision. Having a hobby has shown to reduce stress, improve mental health, and improve your wellbeing. 

Take up something as easy as doing a puzzle, coloring, or even writing in a journal. For the more adventurous hobbies, start a garden or small aquarium, or pick up an instrument. A great way to find time for your hobby is to analyze your “auto pilot” mode. Are you just scrolling social media or absorbed in a tv show? Could you use this time for your hobby or squeeze in a few moments of journaling or puzzle doing with the tv on in the background. 

Journaling

Journaling is a great way to help conquer burnout. Sometimes the best thing to do is to pour your heart out onto paper, or even on an online journal (an online journal can even help with a sense of community or support). When recovering from burnout the best thing to do is get the words and feelings out of your head. You don’t need to focus on complete sentences or worry about what other people may think. A journal is to help you process everything that you are going through. It is not for other people; it is for you and for assisting you while you cope with giving yourself to someone else in a stressful situation. 

Recharging Yourself Outdoors

Another great way to mitigate stress and burnout is to find your way outdoors. Research shows that finding your way outside, helps our mental health and also helps increase our ability to focus. We use something called voluntary attention on a daily basis to ignore distractions to focus on everyday tasks. It’s good to have and helps you to complete projects but is hard to maintain. Being outside though – that exercises the use of involuntary attention. Using this, we are aware of surroundings but not mentally preparing to react. This actually gives our brains a chance to recharge.  This I called attention restoration. 

Regularly going to green spaces has been linked to lowering depression and improved focus. This could be you just sitting on the patio, taking a stroll in the park, heading to the beach or a more strenuous hike. Not only does the outdoors help you mentally, but it can also help you physically as well. Being in nature has been shown to decrease muscle tension, decrease cortisol levels and increase your vitamin D. 

Focusing on the Good

Another good tip for a caregiver is to focus on the good. Instead of thinking about what your loved one has lost or will lose (this can be physically or mentally). Think about the strengths that they still do have. If you can do that and help them focus on their own strengths as well this will help you realize that you just don’t have the sickness left. You have the person that you care about. 

Set Boundaries

One good thing you can do for yourself during this difficult time is to set boundaries. Setting boundaries allows you to take care of yourself at the same time as time care of another. Putting boundaries in place is not a bad thing, this will help you to mitigate stress and to avoid burnout. You need to know when a situation is too much for you to handle and are able to get help, or step away for a moment to allow yourself to destress and reset your brain. This is a form of self-love and is beneficial for keeping yourself stress free and a chance to not encounter burnout. 

Exercise

One great way to avoid stress and burnout is to exercise. Exercise is a proven method of helping your body cope with these emotions. Exercise is not only a great physical activity but also releases endorphins and serotonin in your brain helping you to feel happier. It can even help you sleep better! The recommended amount of exercise a day is 30 minutes, this could be walking, biking, kayaking, or even lifting weights. Setting time aside to workout can also get you into the great outdoors, and out socializing with people. You could take a fitness class and check the box of going connected. Getting outside for a brief walk would help you check off the box of being outside. Combining these things will help to lift the stress, and help you focus on taking care of you.

Eating Well

One thing people who are in the caregiver role forget is to eat well. Often time stress causes us to snack on unhealthy things or turn to unhealthy habits like overindulging in alcohol. One great thing you can do is to eat balanced meals. Eating healthy allows your body to perform at its best, it also helps your immune system and can repair damaged cells. You also want to make sure that you are eating regularly. Doing this helps your glucose blood level stay stable and allows your brain to function at its best. Avoid drinking a lot of caffeine; by drinking a lot of caffeinated beverages you can increase your blood pressure and cause a spike in anxiety. This will make you more prone to feel stressed. Eating antioxidant rich foods such as blueberries, strawberries, and even dark chocolates helps to reduce the damage to your cells. Eating omega-3 rich foods can also help to make you feel less stressed. Omega-3 fatty foods such as salmon, nuts and soy products help to reduce inflammation which is known to cause stress on your body. 

Outsourcing Tasks

In this day and age, it is incredibly easy to find people to assist you or run errands for you. While taking care of someone else, what can you have someone else do? Ordering groceries to your door, hiring the neighbor to mow your lawn, or asking a close friend to pick up your prescriptions will help you get time back in your day and avoid extra stress or encountering burnout.  

Practice Self-Compassion

An important thing to do during your time as a caregiver is to practice self-compassion. Do not be so hard on yourself. You are allowed to make mistakes, and you are allowed to feel sad, defeated or depressed. The key here though is to be kind to yourself. Practice mindfulness. Take a minute to address your feelings and give yourself a pep talk. You need to create a positive relationship with yourself. Avoid the negative self-talk in the caregiving situation and tell yourself what a good thing you are doing. You are kind, compassionate, and helpful during someone’s time of need. 

Meditation

One last thing to mention is meditation. Meditation helps to calm the mind and sink into a relaxed state. During a mediation session you focus on one thing, and that helps to clear the stream of thoughts that are running through your mind. If you practice mediation everyday it actually helps you build a resistance to stress. Meditation helps you to feel better, feel refreshed and ready to face the rest of your day. The best part is you can easily do it in 5 minutes, start your day feeling refreshed and stress free.

I hope this post helps you to find the best ways to deal with stress and avoid a potential burnout during your time of caregiving. Perhaps one thing will work, while maybe another thing won’t but by reading this article you are one step closer to finding a better way to manage.