How Can You Tell if You Need a Break or You Need to Step Away from Caregiving for Good?
Caregiving is extremely demanding on so many levels. Eventually you may find yourself at a crossroads where you’re seriously wondering whether you should stop being your elder loved one’s caregiver or simply take some time away. It’s not an easy decision at all.
Elder Care Darby PA – How Can You Tell if You Need a Break or You Need to Step Away from Caregiving for Good?
Take a Day or Two Off First
The first step is for you to take a day or two away from caregiving. You might notice right away that you’re feeling much better with even a short break, which can help you to answer the question immediately. Hire elder care providers or have other family members take over for a day or two and see if that helps. If you’re still feeling uncertain, you may need to start looking deeper for the answer.
Talk to a Counselor
Having a therapist or a counselor that you can trust is essential for working through your feelings and your needs. Many family caregivers find that they’re so in tune with meeting their elder loved one’s needs that they don’t even realize what their own needs are anymore. Talking to a professional can help you to dig down to what you really need in order to be healthy and happy.
Start Journaling
When you start writing in a journal, you allow yourself to get to the root of your feelings, even if you don’t know what that is right now. Give yourself permission to write without judging your thoughts and let yourself explore your feelings. You may find that you’re not quite ready to step away just yet, but you need some things to change dramatically in order to remain a caregiver.
Be Honest with Yourself
Above all, you have to be honest with yourself. If you’re not telling yourself the whole truth, or you’re ignoring the messages your subconscious is giving you, you’re still going to be in a bad emotional spot. Remember that there’s no right or wrong answer and no matter what you choose, you’re not a bad person.
If you’re still not sure, you may need to take a longer break to get your emotional feet back under you. There’s no shame in needing to step away from caregiving and you need to do what’s right for you.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Elder Care Services in Darby PA, please contact the caring staff at True Direct Home Health Care today.
Doc, as he is called by everyone - staff, patients and clients - first experienced home health care and hospice care while as a colleg student at King's College as he cared for his mother every day while she first battled COPD and then lung cancer. It was during this time that he came to understand that caring for a patient was more than just clinical expertise.
"Admittedly, my strongest attribute is my communication skills and the simple fact that I love to help people. Even the smallest thing you can do for someone really can mean so much to them long term. In fact, it could change them forever. That's what providing quality personal home health care should be all about."
In his spare time, he cooks for homeless shelters and children's music and arts events. He also is highly involved in his local youth sports soccer academy as a coach and Board member.
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