On 90% of families who require assistance for the care of a dependent member, it is the direct family members who tend to assume this role, and frequently, it is a single member of the family who assumes the role of caregiver of the elderly person. This situation emerges suddenly and the overload that the main caregiver of the elderly person may experience before it, can give rise to caregiver syndrome. If you are interested in knowing Caregiver syndrome: what it is, symptoms, phases and treatment, keep reading this article on Psychology-Online.
In the vast majority of occasions, older people require help in all those functions that they can no longer perform, such as personal hygiene, eating habits, sleep hygiene, shopping,... Before this, the figure of a person with the role of caregiver, in order to help them carry out all these actions and provide them with emotional support.
This group of people are called caregivers and tend to be divided into two groups:
- The professionals dedicated to caring for this population. That is, caregivers of the elderly, the elderly or professional dependents.
- The relatives or close people to the sick or elderly person. However, there is a high prevalence of family members caring for the sick, compared to professionals, which can be a problem because they do not have coping strategies in the face of this circumstance.
Given this, the overload that supposes Caring for a sick person can have a noticeable impact on the physical health of the caregiver, but above all there are psychological repercussions, generally related to anxiety and depression, in front of the overflow that the care of said person supposes, since the caregiver stops attending to the emotional needs of her, leaving them in the background.
The overflow of this situation can cause frustration seeing that everything that needs to be done cannot be achieved and when faced with it, the caregiver neglects their own needs, interests, their environment and their free time, with the possibility of social isolation, deterioration of the quality of life and free time, giving rise to the syndrome of the burned-out caregiver.
What is Caregiver Syndrome?
Caregiver syndrome, also called tired or burned-out caregiver syndrome, consists of the overload felt by caregivers of the elderly, the elderly or dependents, which has repercussions on their physical, mental and social health.
If you're wondering, do I have burnout caregiver syndrome? You can identify if you have the signs and symptoms of caregiver syndrome. The overload felt by the caregiver can lead to symptomatic manifestations at a physical, mental and social level, the following being the most frequent:
Physical symptoms of caregiver syndrome
- Loss of energy and feelings of fatigue and tiredness
- Back pain
- Headache
- Dizziness
- Inability to relax
- Dyspepsia
- Muscle pain
- Heaviness of legs
Psychic symptoms of caregiver syndrome
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Sleep disturbances
- Apathy
- Irritability
- Nervousness
- Thoughts of suicide or abandonment
- Resentment towards the person being cared for
- Feelings of hopelessness
- Difficulties for stay focused
- Memory problems
Social symptoms of caregiver syndrome
- Isolation
- Loss of interest
- Difficulty in interpersonal relationships
- Overreaction to criticism
These symptoms or consequences of burned caregiver syndrome can vary according to the type of care, and these will depend on the dependent person and their needs. One of the most common situations in which Tired Caregiver Syndrome appears is in caregivers of people with Tired Caregiver's disease. Alzheimer's.
The physical and mental exhaustion experienced by the elderly caregiver, which gives rise to the caregiver syndrome, appears gradually while the caregiver. The caregiver goes through a series of stages. The phases of burned-out caregiver syndrome are:
- Phase 1: faced with the situation, assuming leadership: When family circumstances make it necessary for one of its members to be cared for, a single family member must assume the role of primary caregiver and Although the whole family can collaborate in their care, the primary or main caregiver of the elderly or dependent person will be the one who will have to assume the vast majority of responsibilities.
- Phase 2: imbalance between demands and resources: When starting the care of the elderly person, the caregiver observes that the demands that the elderly person requires are very great and to cover their needs, it is necessary to dedicate more time and more care, depleting his resources, which can be exhausting for the person caretaker.
- Phase 3: reaction to excess demand: Over time, the increase in hours and care dedicated to the person, produce high levels of stress and effort and with this, the first symptoms of the disease begin to appear. care syndrome, such as: physical and mental exhaustion, anxiety, feelings of sadness, social isolation or sleep disturbances, among others due to overload of the carer.
- Phase 4: relief: Due to the caregiver syndrome, when the dependent person dies, the caregiver may fear expressing the relief that this situation brings to them. Then emerge feelings of guilt following these thoughts. However, this feeling of liberation is natural, because the caregiver was totally tied to the situation.
How to overcome the caregiver syndrome? All the measures that are carried out in the treatment of tired caregiver syndrome are summarized in the concept of caring for the caregiver, that is, it is aimed at seeking an increase in their quality of life. How to take care of the caregiver? Treatment should be multimodal, meeting all the caregiver's needs. Next we will see how to treat caregiver syndrome.
First, the caregiver must be informed of the disease suffered by the patient, with the aim of increasing acceptance of the problem, avoiding false expectations of improvement or negative ideas, such as thinking that the The elderly person does certain actions to annoy him, they must understand the limits of the sick person and fight to increase their autonomy within their possibilities.
However, it is also important be aware of your own limits, understanding that it is not necessary to force yourself and forget about your own personal care. More than ever the caregiver must cater to your own needs, leading a correct diet, sleep habits and scheduling breaks outside of the care of said person, avoiding the appearance of feelings of guilt for spending time with oneself.
On the other hand, although this person is called the primary or main caregiver, in the patient's environment there are other family members with whom the caregiver must share the evolution of the patient and share caregiver burden both practical and emotional that the situation supposes, notifying them of their feelings, fears and concerns, so that the burden can be shared to a lesser extent.
On many occasions, due to guilt, the caregiver prefers not to communicate their fears, worries or exhaustion to their family, but feels the need to have an emotional outlet where you can freely express the frustration you feel or resentment that may arise, as well as feelings negatives. Faced with this, it is very common to start psychotherapeutic treatments that help the person to be able to get rid of these negative feelings and alleviate the emotions of stress, anxiety Y depression.
Occasionally, in the face of good management of the situation, attention to personal care and the performance of psychotherapy, the symptoms of the syndrome of the burned caregiver continue to be maintained and therefore, eventually it is necessary to use psychotropic drugs that help reduce symptoms, such as hypnotic drugs that aid in sleep hygiene or antidepressant or anxiolytic drugs, to reduce high levels of stress, anxiety and sadness.
What happens to the caregiver syndrome when the dependent person dies? Due to caregiver overload, after the caregiver dies, the primary caregiver may experience a sense of relief. This feeling contradicts the feelings of sadness expected in a loss situation and can lead to feelings of guilt. For this reason, the treatment of the caregiver syndrome does not end after the loss, but it is advisable to continue with the grieving process.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
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Caregiver syndrome: what it is, symptoms, phases and treatment
