3 Strategies for Dealing with Caregiver Stress

Stress is bound to happen, and actually, it’s not necessarily a negative thing. After all, as the saying goes, “A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well.” All the same, especially for family caregivers, the level of stress can very quickly escalate and start to become frustrating, and if not managed effectively, result in significant health problems.

Try these guidelines for effectively dealing with family caregiver stress and obtain a healthier and much more peaceful lifestyle – both for yourself and the ones you love:

• Change your self-talk. Through the course of every day, you will probably find yourself entertaining thoughts like, “I can’t do this!” or “Everything is going wrong!” Stop when negative thinking starts to intrude, and say to yourself instead, “I’m able to handle this, one step at a time,” or “Help is accessible whenever I require it.”
• Take a break. Deescalate stress through any or all of the subsequent techniques:
  • Breathe deeply (inhale to a count of 4; hold for a count of 4; breathe out to a count of 4; hold for a count of 4; repeat as required)
  • Go for a walk or engage in some other physical exercise
  • Pray or meditate
  • Play favorite music
  • Write in a journal
  • Contact a relative
• Try a stress-busting pursuit. There are a lot of fulfilling activities that will distract your focus away from what was creating stress and onto something more favorable, such as creating art, reading, having fun with pets or children, doing work in the garden or on a do-it-yourself project – the options are limitless, and even as little as 10 or 15 minutes allocated to the experience often helps.

There are even apps specially built with caregivers in mind to help decrease family caregiver stress and regain calm. Find five which are especially beneficial from DailyCaring.

Dealing with stress is an ongoing struggle for family caregivers who feel as though they have no support system, and have to handle everything themselves. Fortunately, we have an answer! Call CareWorks Health Services to learn why people trust us to deliver exceptional Huntington Beach senior services and to schedule an in-home assessment to find out how we can share in your caregiving duties, enabling you to gain the essential time away to destress. Our team can help with:

• Planning and preparing nourishing meals
• Personal care and hygiene needs
• Taking care of housekeeping chores and laundry
• Running errands, including grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions
• Accompaniment to medical appointments and interesting outings
• Companionship to brighten every day with enjoyable conversations, games, puzzles, hobbies, etc.
• Medication reminders
• And so much more

If you need a knowledgeable and compassionate caregiver for senior home care in Huntington Beach, CA, reach out to CareWorks Health Services at (949) 859-4700 and discover how a partner in care makes an enormous amount of difference in decreasing stress and restoring a healthy life balance for family care providers. Contact us today to learn more about our senior home care in Huntington Beach and the nearby areas! For a full list of all of the communities where we provide our award-winning care, please see our Service Area page.