Are you a caregiver? If so, do you often feel burned out? You aren’t alone.
Often times, caregivers get so wrapped up and drained by caregiving that they lose sight of the big picture. Dr. Linda Mintle shares symptoms to watch for and remedies of caregiver burn out.
“You just don’t care and you’re getting this sort of whatever feeling because you’re so overwhelmed with what’s going on.”
Sometimes, caregivers notice themselves becoming emotionally and even physically unstable.
“That’s a sign that you’re in the burnout stage, you just kind of get into this overwhelmed state where your emotions are just very flat, where you just don’t feel like whatever you’re doing makes a difference.”
As a care-giver, it’s easy to feel under-appreciated because often, the one you are caring for might not even be well enough to show their appreciation.
“She wouldn’t even recognize them, she didn’t know who they were, she wouldn’t acknowledge them and she would sometimes get very irritable because of the cognitive changes in her brain, because she was never like that as our grandmother. You still have to caretake during that time, and you’re not going to get that appreciation or acknowledgement all the time.”
What can we do to avoid burn out?
“Pay attention to what you’re eating, try to get sleep.”
Ask for help
“Take a break when you need a break, ask someone else to go in and do the task that day or give you an hour or you know going out and just doing errands or getting out of the house. You have to be able to take breaks.”
Have a quiet time
“Spend time with the Lord. If you’re caretaking for someone pull out your Bible and spend some time with that person and do some praise and worship with them, listen to music. Spending time with God will settle all of that busyness, and all the work you have to do and will help you get to a point where you can have that peace in the middle of all of this.”
