Four Situations That Can Seriously Overwhelm You as a Caregiver

There are times throughout your journey as a caregiver that can be incredibly overwhelming for you. If you are paying attention to those times when you are starting to feel more overwhelmed and out of your element, you can pause and get some help lined up.

Your Senior Is Experiencing Cognitive Changes

Elder Care Thomasville, NC: Overwhelming Caregiving

Cognitive changes are something that caregivers and seniors alike might fear. Those changes can be the result of injury, small illnesses like a bladder infection, or larger illnesses, like Alzheimer’s disease. The cause of those changes is what indicates how large a situation this will be for you and for her. This can be one of the situations that challenges you more than you ever expected. One of the side effects of cognitive changes can be a tendency to wander and that increases the challenge many times over.

Your Senior’s Needs Are Growing

As your elderly family member continues to age, her health and other aspects of her life continue to change as well. That means that her needs are growing and that you need to be more involved in her care than ever before. This might not fit in with your needs and abilities at this time, which creates a pretty large conflict for you.

Your Senior Is Falling or Afraid of Falling

If your senior is falling repeatedly or she’s afraid that she’s going to fall, that’s a problem. People who fall are twice as likely to fall again and those falls can leave your senior with some serious injuries that have long-reaching effects. Preventing a fall is a massive priority if you’re a caregiver. If your elderly family member is worried that she will fall, she may accidentally increase her likelihood of falling.

You’ve Been Ignoring Yourself and Your Own Needs

Caregivers who continually neglect their own needs find that all of caregiving becomes more intense and overwhelming over time. You might worry that it’s selfish to focus on yourself at any point if you’re a caregiver, but it’s actually selfish if you don’t. Continuing to be a caregiver without focusing on what you need is going to significantly shorten your ability to be a caregiver at all.

If you’re in or approaching one of these situations, it’s time for you to get some help with caregiving duties. Elder care providers can help you to get a handle on what’s going on and to adjust what you’re doing to make sure that your senior is getting the care that she needs.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Elder Care Thomasville, NC, contact the caring professionals at TenderHearted Home Care today. Call us at (704) 612-4132.