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This week, Rayna Neises, your host, talks about a few of the emotions that are a part of this season of life. There are 53 million unpaid family caregivers in the United States it is easy to feel alone and overwhelmed with emotions while you are caring for a loved one and it is totally normal. Rayna explores three emotions and their impact:
- Worry is a normal reaction to caring for someone else who can’t do it for themselves, but it becomes a problem when it leads to fretting and anxiety.
- Try forcing yourself to focus on something else or flipping the worry with twice as many positive thoughts on the subject.
- Loneliness can be a natural progression as others become uncomfortable or you stop having time to participate in social activities.
- Be real. Reach out. Get out. You need to foster connections with people beyond your loved one.
- Grief will be a part of your caring season. It is natural to grieve what was as things change.
- Tend to your grief:
- Reach out to friends, family, clergy, anyone who can give you comfort.
- Pay attention and be deeply honest with yourself about what you need to do and not do through this season of life. Be patient, kind, and compassionate with yourself.
- Take care of yourself. Grief expresses itself in many ways.
- Anticipate and plan ahead. Don’t wait for others to reach out.
- Make room for your grief and sadness. Cry as you need, feel the anger, and trust that you know what will help with the healing.
- “Acceptance is not about liking a situation. It is about acknowledging all that has been lost and learning to live with the loss.” Elisabeth Kubler-Ross and David Kessler.
- There is comfort in knowing you are a part of a caregiving army who can find strength in each other.
