Caregiver Concerns: Caring For Yourself In Times Of Stress

As a provider of care, it’s often easy to forget about the things you need when you’re managing someone else’s wellbeing. We become so used to putting others first that it becomes unhabitual to take care of ourselves. But managing your own stress and wellbeing as a carer is vital, not only because it protects your mental health but because it provides a solid foundation to offer the best possible support to those in our care.

When times are tough, and for many people they’re tougher than ever, you need to take care of yourself. Here’s how to manage your own wellbeing so you can continue to support others.

It Starts With A Good Night’s Sleep

Caregivers often struggle to find a healthy sleeping pattern - perhaps you’re used to the early starts to support somebody else’s morning routine, or maybe when your head hits the pillow your mind starts racing with tomorrow’s to-do list. Yet sleep is often the missing link in our own emotional wellbeing and with better sleep we find ourselves more resilient to stressful situations, more focussed and happier. Being well rested also provides a powerful boost to the immune system, meaning less days wasted off sick.

“Working on sleep hygiene, limiting screen time and caffeine after a certain hour, and building simple patterns around going to bed are all vital to helping you switch off at night,” says Theresa Adams, a writer at Assignment Help and Essayroo. “Small changes can hello you to rise rested and ready for the challenges of the day.”

Routine Happiness

If you find your mental health suffering from a hectic lifestyle of caregiving, or you feel stress starting to build, working on your routine can ensure that all the small day-to-day tasks fall into place. This can have a powerful impact on stress - whilst stress often formulates itself around big events, it’s the minor tasks distracting us that let it fester.

“Getting up, eating your meals and exercise habits such as jogging or yoga should be performed at the same time each day,” says April Edwards, a health expert at Lia Help and Bigassignments. “Automating these daily tasks will set your mind at ease.”

Have A Plan B

Many caregivers are managing day to day, scraping through their responsibilities without much room to give. This creates an enormous source of worry - what if you get sick or injured, and you aren’t able to be there for the person you’re caring for. Implementing a plan B by reaching out to a friend you can call on in an emergency, or even just researching the public health services in your area, can offer a safety net for if it all goes wrong.

When everything rests on your shoulders, this adds a great weight that can lead to stress and burnout in caregiving. Simply by building a solid plan B that gives you options for care can reduce stress and add an additional layer of support for anyone who needs it.

Thought Process

How you think about things is equally important as what you do when it comes to your mental health. The healthiest routines in the world won’t do anything against negative thought patterns so it’s essential that as a caregiver you pay constant attention to your habitual thoughts.

Do you find you slip easily into self-criticism, imagining that you’re not doing a good enough job providing care, or imagining that others would be coping better? Try to be kind and generous in the way you think about yourself, focussing on the positive ways you’re changing the world.

Do you find yourself worrying about things you see on the news and imagining worst case scenarios? Focus on the things you can control rather than the scary doomsday scenarios that are beyond your control.

Checking In, Checking Out

Checking in with yourself on a regular basis is hugely important. When you’re a primary caregiver to someone with challenging support needs it’s easy to shoulder too much of a burden, placing unreachable expectations of selflessness and giving. As a caregiver, it’s vital to remember that you need to look after yourself as well - building a support network that contains plan B options for care, managing your sleep and routine, and watching out for negative thoughts will ensure you stay happy, healthy and best placed to care.