There's no fixed amount of time for exhaustion to go away or get better. It may take several days, weeks, or months before you recover. You can reduce stress sooner if you take care of yourself, for example, if you ask for help so you have time to dedicate to yourself. If you are in need of Home Care services in Sandy Springs GA, you can also reach out for assistance in order to prioritize your self-care.
Grief It's normal to feel sad, angry, hopeless, heartbroken, or devastated. Our society says you should get over it in a week or two. In reality, it often takes one to two years. See the FCA fact sheet (Grief and Loss). Assuming all the responsibilities of providing care without regular breaks or assistance is a foolproof recipe for the exhaustion of caregivers.
Caregiver burnout is a state of emotional, mental, and physical exhaustion caused by prolonged and overwhelming stress of caregiving. Either of these two signs of caregiver burnout may be a sign that you've moved from the first stage, caregiver stress, to the second, the stage of total exhaustion. A support group for caregivers is a great way to share your problems and find people who are going through similar experiences every day. Learning to recognize the signs of stress and exhaustion in the person you care for is important, so you can take immediate steps to prevent things from getting worse and start to improve the situation for both you and the person you care for. You'll be a more effective and less stressed caregiver if you make taking care of your own health a priority.
When trying to remember all the things that are required to care for someone, the mind can overwhelm and, in turn, cause problems focusing on a certain thing. According to the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, it is estimated that each year there are 44 million adults in the United States who provide unpaid care to older adults and people with disabilities living in the community. When multiple people are taking care of care tasks, it's important that everyone is on the same page. If you're moving from caregiver burnout to compassion fatigue, where you're becoming apathetic to the needs of your loved one and living with an overwhelming sense of hopelessness or despair, it's time to seek change.
Think about the ways in which caregiving has made you stronger or how it has brought you closer to the person you care for or other family members. If you're the family caregiver of a loved one, you've probably gotten used to spending most of your time helping others while placing yourself at the bottom of the list of priorities. Another difference between caregiver fatigue or exhaustion and compassion fatigue is that the final phase of burnout often causes caregivers to experience a weakening of the sense of empathy for people to your position. Nearly three-quarters of family caregivers report that they don't see a doctor as often as they should, and 55 percent say they skip doctor's appointments on their own.
While caring for a loved one will never be stress-free, the following tips can help you lighten the burden, avoid symptoms of caregiver burnout, and find greater balance in your life.
