In the recent years a major part of the population of the world have had someone fallen prey to an illness, some to the very apparent covid pandemic, while the remaining to related mental and physical illnesses. This led to so many of us turning into caregivers for our close ones. Some of us even had the whole family to look after. Such a situation raises a serious concern for mental health of caregivers, which quite often gets unnoticed. It might sometimes get masked as “their sacrificial nature” and get applauses instead of help. In these times, it is likely for a person to experience what is known as “Caregiver Burnout.”
Caregiver burnout is a state of extreme physical, mental and emotional exhaustion, experienced by people who are taking care of a patient going through a mental or medical illness, mostly, but not necessarily from a long time. Behind it there are multiple factors like a constant worry for the patient’s health, reduced or no time for one’s own self-care, deteriorated social life and no change of place or surrounding for a long time. As also catalysed by the Covid pandemic, many caregivers sometimes have nowhere to escape from the stress they had been facing which puts them in a twisted position. The caregivers can sometimes become so involved with the patient’s progress that they begin to compromise their own. They begin to put some of their bigger life goals on stake for the patient.
Such a change for the caregiver might result in various physical and mental implications. They are likely to experience a state of burnout wherein they feel tired all the time, reach a state of emotional numbness and feel stagnated in life. They might also begin to associate one’s own sense of worth with the patient’s progress and blame themselves for any downfall in the patient’s health. This may further lead to self-esteem issues. Specially while taking care of a terminally ill patient, a hopelessness can surround the caregiver as they might think that the caregiving journey shall end in nothing but death. This hopelessness then is likely to get translated or generalised into the caregiver’s life. All these effects can then get translated to a perpetual state of anxiety, depression disturbed sleeping and eating patterns etc. moreover, these people are less likely to get help as they are often overlooked due to the patient’s needs and concerns.
Even though the level of this burnout depends on a variety of factors like attitude of the patient, type of illness, presence of other support system, there are still numerous things that can help a caregiver cope with it. Taking short self-care breaks which can be as simple as going for a walk, taking help of their friends, family and other social support systems or meditating can help to a great deal. Building a strong positive relationship with the patient can also help the caregiver significantly. It is important to understand that the caregiving is not an eternal part of their life and that while it might seem so, it is possible to detach oneself from their daily duties once in a while to rejuvenate.
Deteriorating mental and physical health of the caregiver not only impacts themselves but also the patient, and hence the whole purpose of caregiving comes at stake. Thus, it is crucial to ensure that the caregivers’ health is equally taken care of as it can risk two lives at once and that the supporting heroes of any healing process are equally regarded.
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