For a family caregiver, stress is unavoidable, and in reality, not necessarily a negative thing. After all, as the saying goes, “A diamond is just a piece of charcoal that handled stress exceptionally well.” However, in particular for family caregivers, stress can fairly quickly increase and become overwhelming, and if not handled correctly, trigger significant health concerns.
Try these tips to decrease caregiver stress and develop a healthier and more relaxed lifestyle – both for yourself and those you love:
- Modify your self-talk. All through the course of each day, you may find yourself entertaining thoughts such as, “I cannot do this!” or “Every single thing is going wrong!” Stop for a moment when negative thinking begins to fill your mind, and say to yourself instead, “I can do this, one step at a time,” or “Help is here for me whenever I need it.”
- Take a break. Reduce stress by using any or all of these techniques:
- Practice deep breathing (inhale while counting to four; hold while counting to four; exhale to a count of 4; hold for a count of four; repeat as needed)
- Go for a walk or engage in some other exercise
- Pray or meditate
- Play calming music
- Write in a journal
- Reach out to a friend
- Try a stress-reducing activity. There are many different fun activities that can deflect your focus away from whatever was leading to stress and onto something more positive, such as creating art, reading a book, playing with pets or children, gardening, a DIY project – even as little as 10 or 15 minutes spent on the activity can be helpful.
There are also apps expressly created with family caregivers in mind to help lower stress and restore a sense of calm. Find five that are especially helpful here from DailyCaring.
Family caregiver stress is even more prevalent for those who feel as though they have no support system, and need to take care of everything by themselves. Thankfully, we are here to help! Contact Carolina Hearts Home Care, to learn more about our home health care in Raeford and the surrounding area and for a free in-home assessment to discuss services such as:
- Planning/preparing healthy meals
- Assistance with personal care
- Housekeeping and laundry
- Running errands, like grocery shopping and picking up prescriptions
- Transportation to medical appointments and enjoyable outings
- Companionship to make each day more enjoyable with engaging conversations, games, puzzles, hobbies, etc.
- Medication reminders
- And more
Contact Carolina Hearts Home Care at 1.855.277.2005 and discover how a partner in care can make all the difference in reducing family caregiver stress and restoring a healthier life balance for family caregivers.
