Helping with caregiver fatigue and how to spot it

3-minute read

Caregiving can be gratifying, but it can also cause physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. Caregiving — caring for a loved one who cannot care for themselves — is often a 24-hour job and comes with unique stressors on top of the daily grind that can lead to depression, pain, sleeplessness, or mood swings. If you or a friend or family member is a caregiver, knowing the signs of caregiver fatigue means you can help address it before it becomes too overwhelming.

Identifying caregiver fatigue

Signs and symptoms of caregiver burnout or caregiver fatigue include:

Becoming easily irritated or angered. Patience can be hard to come by when you're exhausted, overwhelmed, and alone.
Feeling isolated, deserted, or alone. The person receiving care might be completely reliant on the caregiver for their day-to-day activities. As a result, caregivers can feel like they can't leave the house and don't have the ability to spend time with family or friends.
Feeling overwhelmed. Being someone's caregiver means coordinating not only medical care but also, in some cases, financial concerns and running daily errands for them. If a patient has dementia, caregivers must also manage the emotions and frustrations of people who have memory loss. Without support, the combination of a patient's physical and emotional needs can feel overwhelming.
Feeling tired most of the time. Taking care of someone else 24/7 is hard, and depression and other mental health issues can arise, causing both physical and mental exhaustion.

· Feeling worried or sad most of the time. Fretting about the patient's needs and concerns about the journey ahead, in addition to the isolation that often comes with being a caregiver, can increase a caregiver's risk of anxiety or depression.

· Losing interest in activities once enjoyed. For a caregiver suffering from fatigue, it can feel pointless to engage in, much less enjoy, activities or hobbies that once brought happiness.
Losing or gaining weight. Caregiver fatigue can manifest as not eating enough or overeating in response to the stress of caregiving.

Turning to unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking or drinking too much alcohol. Caregiving can be incredibly demanding, and that might lead to unhealthy habits like alcohol or tobacco use. Try to find healthier ways to cope with the pressure.

Getting help for caregiver fatigue

Caregivers need assistance to take care of their mental and physical health. Even if it's short-term, time away from caregiving duties offers the opportunity for much-needed self-care and rest. Contact the state's Aging & Disability Resource Center (ADRC). The ADRC can help connect caregivers with support groups, adult daycare centers, respite care, home health aides, or even nursing homes.

At Reid Health, caregivers and patients also have a resource in the Reid Health Program of All-Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE). PACE helps patients and caregivers with a customized care plan and access to resources in the community that can help.

If you're a caregiver or know someone who is, request more information about PACE at Reid Health to make sure everyone gets the help and support they need.