How not to burn, caring for older parents?

When parents and close relatives become elderly, they need to be looked after. Often this leads to difficulties in physical, emotional and financial terms.

Content

Caring for older parents, people are faced with burnout, which is accompanied by depression, regular experiences and fatigue. To avoid this, you need to adhere to certain recommendations. Read more about this in this article.

What is burnout syndrome when caring for elderly parents?

If there is a need to care for the elderly and lying people, even the most persistent person will encounter burnout. Fighting syndrome occurs when a person is not able to achieve assistance. Or takes more responsibility than he can master.

There are a lot of people in the world requiring care

Often, burnout in the care of elderly parents provoke the following factors:

Expectationswho have not come true. If a person thinks that his help will allow an elderly person to establish well -being, but this does not happen, he has a nervous exhaustion. Unfortunately, it is impossible for people suffering from progressive diseases.
Lack of resources. If a person does not have enough time, money or experience to care for elderly relatives.
Excessive responsibility. People who consider leaving for an elderly relative their duty often encounter burnout.

Symptoms of burnout when caring for elderly parents

Most people who take care of elderly parents stop thinking about themselves.

Almost a third of the departure in the world and Russia - for elderly relatives

There are several symptoms that determine burnout:

Increased anxiety;
Change in behavior. Often people show aggression or indifference;
Cynicismwhich is not characteristic of you;
Feeling of hopelessness;
Impatience;
Depression and irritability;
Lack of desire to be next to the ward.

If you notice the above symptoms, urgently think about your physical and emotional health. The longer you are in a state of burnout, caring for the elderly parents, the more this will affect your immune system. Often this leads to health problems. You begin to catch a cold more often, signs of autoimmune or cardiovascular diseases appear.

Prevention of burnout syndrome when caring for elderly parents

If you want to take care of the elderly, and do not provoke burnout syndrome, adhere to such recommendations:

Share regularly experiences and thoughts with a loved one. It can be the best friend, relative or colleague. The more you will pronounce, the better your emotional state will be.
Do not refuse help. Do not try to do everything yourself. If there is an opportunity, ask one of the loved ones to go to the product store or prepare lunch.
Be real. If your elderly relative has an incurable disease, do not have the illusions that he will recover.

It is important to remain realist in the care of older relatives

Do not forget to devote time to yourself. Rest regularly from duties. You can go with your friends in a cafe, take a bath with foam, go out into nature.
Do not neglect temporary care services. You can send your elderly relative to the boarding house for several days or weeks. During this time, you will have time to take a break from your duties, and restore the supply of energy.
Study information about the disease of a loved one. Try to learn as much as possible about the disease that your loved one suffers from.
Do not execute yourself for negative emotions. This is normal that sometimes you will experience negative emotions in relation to an elderly person. Try to distract a little, having devoted time to yourself and your psychological state is normalized.

How to properly care for elderly parents so as not to burn out?

There are some tips that need to be adhered to in the care of elderly parents so as not to encounter burnout. More about this will be described later.

Determine what kind of help should be provided to a person. Understand what volume of assistance you need to provide an elderly relative.

This may include:

Medical needs;
Daily needs (cooking, walks, etc.);
The time devoted to the person to feel himself safe;
Time for cleaning, washing and creating comfort.

After taking time, do not forget about yourself to an elderly person

Understand what you can do for a person:

When all the needs are determined, you need to reasonably think what you can do.
Distribute the load.
Do not do everything in a short time.
If you have a family, children and work, it is important to pay attention to them.

Ask for help if necessary:

You must understand what you can do for an elderly person, without harm to their physical and emotional state. At first, it will seem to you that it is realistic to fulfill all the necessary duties yourself. However, it should be understood that leaving can last years. And all this time, perhaps, you will need to sacrifice your desires.
If necessary, ask relatives or friends to help you with any tasks. Now you can find a service that provides assistance in caring for elderly people. Do not blame yourself for asking for additional help. Do not forget to take care of yourself so that there are strength to care for others.

Follow your health:

Quite often, people who take care of their elderly relatives forget about themselves. They do not visit doctors, do not go to planned tricks. This is due to the fact that they put the needs of older people above their own.
If you do not have time to cook nutrient dishes, you can eat light. The main thing is that they are useful. Do not forget for 20-30 minutes. On the day, devote physical activity - yoga, stretching, cycling or just walking.
If there is no way to go to the gym, do exercises at home. If you follow your health, it will be easier to cope with stress.

Preservation of social ties:

Help an elderly relative to keep in touch with the outside world. In more often invite acquaintances and friends to him.
The more time he will spend with other people, the more you can take time for yourself. This will be a good prevention of burnout.

Now you know ways to prevent burnout in the care of elderly parents. If you follow the recommendations described in this article, you can control your condition, and take care of the elderly without harm to your psychological and physical condition.

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