Transcript: Emotional Issues of Caregiving

Welcome to Sharp HealthCare’s "Healthy Aging" podcast. I’m Registered Nurse Lynn Skoczelas and today’s topic is "Emotional Issues of Caregiving." Our guest is Andrea Holmberg, program coordinator for Sharp Senior Resource Centers.

When someone’s taking care of an older adult, whether they have a physical or mental disability condition, it’s very hard emotionally for the person who’s taking care of that person because they are seeing someone who may be declining in health who may not be able to manage and do the same things that they’ve always done.

So it’s very common to go through an emotional turmoil when you’re looking at trying to take care of a loved one. Oftentimes, caregivers are "fix it" people so they want to be able to go in and fix the problem, and you can’t really fix some of these things that caregivers are facing like Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s disease. They also can feel very angry because when you’re getting ready to retire and you have this vision of what retirement is going to look like and you’ve planned for it so many years and then to find that it isn’t that at all because someone is ill.

You can also be in denial that there isn’t even a problem. One of the things that I like to recommend to people is to try and learn what you can about the disease that your loved one is facing, so you know what to expect, what is normal in the progression of the disease.

Caregivers need to figure out a way to be able to take the breaks for themselves and to take these emotions and learn to cope with them. Doing something out of their routine, something that gets them away from the daily caregiver chores really helps them relieve that stress.

Support groups are also a terrific way to get some relief from the various emotional issues that you face. You could hear that someone also has also been in the same place that you are and it can be quite a relief. One of the things that I think is important is you need to forgive yourself for not being perfect. You just need to be able to accept that and tell yourself that you’re doing the best that you can. You need to find ways to relieve the tension and the stress that those caregiving duties bring.

There are counselors that are available for free who can help people who are really having trouble and struggling with these issues.

You also need to maintain a sense of humor. If you can’t laugh about something, it makes it much more difficult. Don’t just think you have to do everything by yourself. And if you find that you can’t do some of the things, that’s okay, too. But you want to try and find those moments that renew your spirit that will help you rest and enjoy some simple pleasures of life.

For senior and caregiver resources and other aging services at Sharp, call 1-800-82-SHARP or visit www.sharp.com/seniors today.