How to Manage Worrying When it Gets out of Hand
Elder Care Havertown PA
Worry can actually be a positive emotion because it allows you to look at the situation and attempt a correction to get back on track. If you’re worrying constantly, though, it’s not productive at all and it could be hampering your abilities as a family caregiver for your elder loved one.
Educate Yourself as Much as You Can
Often worry shows up because you’re just not sure what is going to happen next or what could happen. Your brain takes over and starts developing “worst case” scenarios. If that’s a significant cause of your own worries, then getting as informed as you can be can help to resolve that problem for you. Talk with your elder loved one’s doctors, join a support group, and read as much research as you can find.
Set a Timer and then Worry Away
When informing yourself doesn’t bring you relief from worry, or gives you more that you can worry over, it’s time to push the issue with yourself. Set a timer for five or ten minutes and then let yourself worry as hard as you can. Write down your worries. Try to cover as much worrisome ground as you can before the timer goes off.
Flip Your Worries into Positives
Now that you have a list of your worries, it’s time to do battle. For each one, write down beside it what the opposite of that worry is. What would it take to turn that worry into a positive situation? Are there experts that you could contact? Is there another solution you could employ? Don’t stop until you have an opposite for each worry. You may just find that your worries weren’t as bad as you suspected.
Set up a Support System
When you find yourself worrying too often, it can mean that you don’t feel prepared or supported. Take a look at your support system and see where you need to bolster it. You might need to hire elder care providers, for instance, or join a support group for your loved one’s particular health conditions. You might need to talk with other family members about pitching in more. Whatever would help your support system to be more effective is your next step.
Once you know how to manage your own worry, keep using the system you set up for yourself.
If you or an aging loved one are considering Elder Care Services in Havertown 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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