Whether a professional caregiver, providing medical and non-medical assistance or giving care to a disabled family member or your role as a homemaker, spouse, Mom or Dad. What you do on a daily basis can and is considered care giving. Some of you work in the medical field and care for family as well. For others, their only job is to give full time care to a family member suffering from a chronic, disabling condition and are unable to care for themselves.
When the day is done, you still have to take care of you. Unfortunately, when the day is done… it can be really, really late. Somehow, it’s easier to tell ourselves “No” at the end of an exhausting day. There are a couple of reasons tending to an ailing family member, can be even more taxing on you than if you were employed as a caregiver on a business level.
- As an employee, laws govern your working conditions, pay and time off, At the end of the day you simply, go home.
- Caring for a loved one, carries the additional stress of emotion and mental strain.
- Guilt is an unavoidable hazard in this tenuous role. Regardless of how well, loving and efficient your service is, you constantly second guess yourself that you can do more. As well, you can’t help feel occasional resentment for the sacrifices you make…which creates guilt!
To be successful as a caregiver, you must take care of you first. Even airline attendants learn to always secure their own oxygen mask first, then they can help another next to you. You can’t help another if you are dying yourself. This may seem extreme or selfish thinking. Looking at it in the above light, you will understand it is quite a compassionate perspective. Taking care of you, the caregiver first, you are healthier and better able to ensure you will be there to care for your patient or your loved one!
A few resources to help you to help those you care for are as close as your local Senior Center or Community Church. Many have volunteer companions to step in and give you a break for a few hours. Quality time to rest and refresh and attend to your needs, doesn’t have to cause guilt or require a great amount of time away. Treat yourself, doesn’t have to mean indulge. It can mean, “give treatment” to the caregiver.
Your mental and emotional health is equally important as your physical well being. Stress from your job can even cause physical ailments. Headaches, aches, pains and insomnia to name a few. Striking a balance in the care you take of yourself and the care you give can make all the difference to both of you.
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