How To Manage Caregiver Stress and Burnout
Caregiving for a family member or friend can be a meaningful and rewarding experience. It typically involves providing some form of personal care (e.g., assistance with bathing, administering medications, meal preparation, feeding, etc.). It also requires assistance with instrumental care needs such as food shopping and finances. However, caregiving is also a role that is inherently stressful and can lead to caregiver stress and burnout if caregivers do not attend to their own care needs.
It is no exaggeration to say that caregiver stress is among the most prevalent mental health challenges in our society. One in four Canadians provides essential care to family members and friends living with a chronic and/or debilitating illness. One in three of these informal caregivers report feeling stressed.
“Caregiver stress is the burden or strain that caregivers face when caring for a person with a chronic illness.”
What are caregiver stress and burnout?
The main characteristics of caregiver stress include exhaustion, physical and mental strain. The caregiver may also experience disturbance with sleep, appetite and become avoidant of daily tasks and socializing. Generally, there is an overall decrease in coping with various physical, mental, and organizational demands of the caregiver role.
Caregiver burnout is an extreme form of caregiver stress, a state of physical and emotional exhaustion. It can have severe consequences for the mental health of both the patient and the caregiver. Caregiver burnout can, for example, result in a breakdown of the caregiver relationship and is a common factor in nursing home placement for caregivers of persons with dementia.
Many descriptions of caregiver stress point out that caregiver stress and burnout can occur when caregivers neglect their own physical and mental health. Another critical factor is how caregivers judge their experience of caregiver stress in different areas, including providing care, work-life, finances, and mental strain.
It bears noting, however, that many other impersonal factors can lead to caregiver stress. These external factors include socioeconomic status, limited availability of or access to community-based services, lack of responsiveness from the health care system, lack of employer accommodation, and lack of family support.
Finally, not all caregiving is the same. There is research suggesting that some types of caregiving are more strenuous and negatively impactful than others. Caregiving for a person with dementia, for example, has been found to result in higher levels of burnout than non-dementia caregivers. Specific sub-groups of caregivers, such as LGBTQI, First Nations, and caregivers of those with early-onset dementia, may also experience stressors that are unique to their situation.
Symptoms of Caregiver Stress and Burnout
There are many signs and symptoms of caregiver stress and burnout. If you are a caregiver, ask yourself if you have been experiencing any of the signs and symptoms of caregiver stress below:
Physical complaints such as headaches, pains
Decreased enjoyment in social and family activities
Difficulty concentrating and remembering things
Withdrawal
Feelings of helplessness or hopelessness
You feel anxious or depressed
Physical fatigue
Personal health problems
You are more irritable or angry and have mood changes
Sleep deprivation or sleep disorders
Abuse of care receiver(s)
Neglect of care receiver(s)
Lowered self-esteem
Suppose you are experiencing one or more of the above symptoms. In that case, you must seek appropriate help, such as speaking to your family physician or an allied health professional such as a social worker or occupational therapist trained in senior care.
How to Avoid Caregiver Stress and Burnout
Learn to Recognize Stress
Reducing caregiver stress requires learning to identify how strain is showing in your life. If you've been experiencing any of the above symptoms for an extended period, then contacting your GP is the first and most crucial step to reducing your stress level. Make it a practice to check in with yourself weekly and keep track of any new or persistent stress symptoms. Doing so is an essential part of self-care and will enable you to identify and seek appropriate support.
Self-care
It is essential to adopt self-care as a mindset that puts you, the caregiver, on an equal footing to the care recipient worthy of attention and care. Self-care involves many activities, including the following: eating a nutritious diet; sleeping as well as you can; regular exercise as time allows; respite breaks; social connection; and practicing some form of relaxation, hobby, or other activity of interest.
Self-care activities should have a schedule to which you adhere. Doing so will significantly reduce your stress and maintain your quality of life. Remember this critical message: taking care of yourself increases your ability to cope with the ongoing, multiple demands of caregiving.
Connect with Others
Caregiving, especially for those with advanced dementia or other high care needs, can lead to isolation and increased distress. Isolation is one of the most damaging results of decreased social connection. It can negatively affect a caregiver's ability to cope with growing care demands and their health.
If possible, reach out to other family members and friends and work out a schedule that involves assistance with needed tasks and social connections. Successfully expanding your social network to include family and friends reduces isolation, provides a needed break and creates a sense of shared responsibility for caregiving. Even a supportive phone call can provide relief to caregivers. Many caregivers experience a reduction in burden when they're provided with the emotional support that doesn’t necessarily involve assistance with care tasks. Creating and maintaining opportunities for social connection is an essential aspect of self-care and an effective way to reduce caregiver stress.
Community Linking
Community health and multi-service organizations play an essential role in providing needed care, outreach, caregiver support, and advocacy to caregivers and care receivers. Accessing and linking to these supports increases both care receivers’ and caregivers’ knowledge of the health care system and how to navigate it.
Reach out to one of these organizations and discuss the challenges you’re facing and how they can help you organize, prioritize and take actionable steps to deal with your situation. By taking this step, you break the cycle of isolation and allow others to assist and support you. Establishing a connection to one or more of these organizations is an essential element of caregiving that will support you through the caregiving journey.
In Summary
Caregiving plays a critical role in our society and is an essential form of care for seniors. Like all forms of care, caregiver stress is inherently stressful. It can become particularly burdensome if the care receiver’s care demands become increasingly complex and intense over time and the caregiver’s needs for support go unmet. Despite the challenges involved, caregiving can be less stressful if caregivers learn to care for themselves.
If you are struggling as a caregiver, please get in touch with Mind Path Therapy for a free consultation.
