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Putting in regular 12 to 15 hour
days with the need to be there for your spouse, your
parents, and your children puts on the pressure. Now
with Spring upon us you can add keeping the lawn and
garden looking somewhat presentable so the neighbors
don't start a picket line, and being there for at
least some of the scheduled Little League games, and
it's no wonder caregivers feel stretched beyond
belief. Fail to deal with the effects of stress and
you'll destroy yourself faster than you can say "I
quit!"
A little stress can keep you at the top of your game.
Pressure to make a great impression on the boss can
give you the adrenaline you need to put in extra
evenings on that important presentation. Researching a
new diagnosis and coming up with critical information
to make sense of what the doctors are saying can give
you a renewed sense of power. This kind of stress can
keep you productive and focused on the task at hand.
Excessive and never-ending stress, on the other hand,
can make us physically and emotionally ill. It's
important to recognize the symptoms of burnout before
they reach the critical level and begin to destroy the
very things we care about most.
Signs of
Approaching Burnout
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•
Our bodies respond to too
much stress by getting sick. Headaches, muscle
tension and pain, sleeplessness, exhaustion, and
forgetfulness, an unusual number of colds or
other illnesses can be warning signs.
•
More days
than not you're getting up on the wrong side of
the bed.
Irritability with
family and friends and a "bad mood" that rarely
seems to improve is a sign that burnout has
arrived.
•
Feeling overwhelmed
by your responsibilities and having trouble
setting priorities and goals. A sense of
hopelessness and helplessness is a real
indicator that you're burned out.
In most cases the reason for caregiver burnout
is the feeling that you have lost control. "You"
have been buried by your duties and obligations.
The best antidote to burnout is finding the
right balance between those duties and
obligations on one side, and "you" on the other.
Three Strategies
For Avoiding Burnout
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1. Do
Nothing
Doing nothing really is doing
something. Even 15 or 20 minutes of peace and
quiet can help you re-charge. Do something you
personally enjoy for an hour or two and stop
feeling guilty about it. Think of it as a
lifesaving prescription from your doctor.
2. Refuse to be "On-Call" 24/7
Let the answering machine take your calls. Feel
free to check your messages if ignoring them
will make you feel even more stressed, but don't
feel you have to talk to everyone who calls -
even your parent - just because they want to
talk. If it's an emergency (and really, how
often is it truly an emergency?)
you can meet them at the hospital. Just make
sure everyone who lives alone is capable of
calling 911.
If you're caregiving for someone in your home
24/7 and not getting at least 7 hours of
uninterrupted sleep, start looking at your
alternatives. You won't be able to keep this up
for any length of time without both you and your
care recipient suffering.
3. Spread the Work
You truly don't need to, and shouldn't, do
everything yourself. Delegate the things you
dislike the most or that someone else can do
faster and better than you. There are good
people out there who can help. Don't say, "Yes,
but...." Find them.
Burnout can do more than give you a headache. It
can really hurt you, and by extension it can
really hurt the people you care about, both
physically and emotionally. Take steps to
prevent burnout "before" you need to, for
everyone's sake.
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