Tips for Coping with Caregiver Guilt

Caregiver guilt can be detrimental to your health and well-being, as well as to the quality of care that you are able to give your aging parent as they age in place. This guilt is about feeling as though you are not doing enough for your aging parent, that you were making the wrong decisions for them, or that the care that you are giving them is not good enough and is not giving them enough benefit.

Caregiver Hacienda Heights CA – Tips for Coping with Caregiver Guilt

This can lead to mental and emotional health consequences such as depression and anxiety, and increases the risk that you will suffer caregiver stress and even burn out. Effectively coping with this guilt is essential for guarding your health and well-being now and into the future.

Use these tips to help you cope with caregiver guilt:

Be gentle with yourself. It is normal to have challenging days or to not feel your best from time to time. Even if you feel that your mood has impacted the care that you give your parent on any particular day, allow yourself to move on.

Give yourself permission to feel emotion. Caregiver guilt often stems from the emotions that caregivers feel as they are caring for their aging parents. The tasks that you must complete as a caregiver can be uncomfortable and unpleasant, and it is normal to respond to these in negative ways. Give yourself permission to feel sad, upset, angry, and even afraid. Just allowing yourself to feel these things can reduce your guilt and help you to better cope with the emotions that occur as you care for your parent.

Reassure yourself that you are doing your best. When you notice that you are feeling caregiver guilt, take a few moments to reflect on the care that you give your parents and evaluate their benefit to your senior. If you know that you are doing what is right for your parents and that they are living a high quality of life, reassure yourself that you are doing your best. You are only one person and will not be able to do everything. As long as you are showing your parent love, respect, and dignity, and helping them to fulfill their basic needs, you are doing your job.

Seek out help. If your caregiver guilt stems from the feeling that you are not with your parent as often as you should be or that you are not fulfilling your parents needs in the way that they deserve, do not hesitate to seek help. Building a care network of friends, family, and even a senior care provider ensures that their individual needs and challenges are met consistently and in the way that is right for them at all times.

Starting home care services for your aging parent can be one of the best decisions that you can make for them during the course of your caregiver journey with them. A home care services provider can be with your aging parent on a customized schedule to ensure that they get the care, support, assistance, and encouragement that they need in order to live the highest quality of life possible as they age in place.

The highly personalized services of an in-home senior care services provider are specifically tailored toward your parent as an individual, meaning that they will get the care that is right for them to support a lifestyle that is as healthy, safe, comfortable, independent, and active as possible throughout their later years. As a family caregiver, this can give you tremendous sense of peace of mind knowing that your parent is in the best hands both when you are with them and when you are not.

If you or an aging loved one are considering Caregiver Services in Hacienda Heights CA, please contact the caring staff at 1Heart Caregiver Services today.