In 90% of families who require help to care for a dependent member, it is the immediate family members who tend to assume this role, and frequently, it is a single member of the family who assumes the role of caregiver for the elderly person. This situation emerges unexpectedly and the overload that the main caregiver of the elderly person may experience can lead to caregiver syndrome. If you are interested in knowing caregiver syndrome: what it is, symptoms, phases and treatmentcontinue reading this Psychology-Online article.
The caregiver syndrome
In the vast majority of cases, older people require help with all those functions that they can no longer perform, such as personal hygiene, eating habits, sleep hygiene, shopping,… Given this, the figure of a person with the role of caregiverin 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 the care of this population. That is, caregivers of the elderly, elderly people or professional dependent people.
- 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 for this circumstance.
Given this, the overload it represents 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 the overload that caring for said person entails, since the caregiver stops attending to their emotional needs, leaving them in a second. flat.
The overflow of this situation can cause frustration seeing that it is not possible to achieve everything that must be done and faced with this, the caregiver neglects his own needsinterests, their environment and their free time, which may lead to social isolation, deterioration in quality of life and free time, giving rise to burnout caregiver syndrome.
What is caregiver syndrome?
Caregiver syndrome, also called tired or burned out caregiver syndrome, consists of overload felt by caregivers of the elderly, elderly or dependent people, which has repercussions on their physical, mental and social health.
Signs and symptoms of caregiver syndrome
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 give rise to symptomatic manifestations on a physical, psychological 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
- Leg heaviness
Psychological symptoms of caregiver syndrome
Social symptoms of caregiver syndrome
- Isolation
- Loss of interest
- Difficulty in interpersonal relationships
- Excessive reaction to criticism
These symptoms or consequences of burnt out caregiver syndrome can vary depending on 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 .
Phases of caregiver syndrome
The physical and psychological exhaustion experienced by the caregiver of the elderly, which gives rise to caregiver syndrome, appears gradually while the caregiver is working. The caregiver goes through a series of stages. The phases of burnt out caregiver syndrome are:
- Phase 1: faced with the situation, assuming leadership: when family circumstances require that one of its members must be cared for, a single member of the family must assume the role of main caregiver and although the entire family can collaborate in their care, the primary or main caregiver of the elderly or dependent person will be the one who must assume the vast majority of responsibilities.
- Phase 2: imbalance between demands and resources: when beginning to care for the elderly person, the caregiver observes that the demands placed on the elderly person are very great and to meet their needs, it is necessary to dedicate more time and more care. exhausting their resources, which can be exhausting for the caregiver.
- Phase 3: reaction to overdemand: over time, the increase in hours and care dedicated to the person produces high levels of stress and effort and with this, the first symptoms of caregiving syndrome begin to appear, such as: exhaustion physical and mental, anxiety, feelings of sadness, social isolation or sleep disturbances, among others due to caregiver overload.
- Phase 4: relief: due to caregiver syndrome, when the dependent person dies, the caregiver may be afraid to express the relief that this situation represents for them. Then, they emerge as a result of these thoughts. However, this feeling of liberation is natural, because the caregiver was completely tied to the situation.
Caregiver syndrome: treatment
How to overcome caregiver syndrome? All the measures carried out in the treatment of tired caregiver syndrome are summarized in the concept of caring for the caregiver, that is, they are oriented towards seeking an increase in their quality of life. How to care for the caregiver? Treatment should be multimodal, addressing all the needs of the caregiver. Next we will see how to treat caregiver syndrome.
First, the caregiver must be informed of the disease that the patient suffers, with the aim of increasing acceptance of the problem, avoiding false expectations of improvement or negative ideas, such as thinking that the elderly person does certain actions to annoy them, they must understand the limits of the sick person and strive to increase their autonomy within of its possibilities.
However, it is also important be aware of one’s 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 needsmaintaining a correct diet, sleeping habits and scheduling breaks away from caring for said person, avoiding the appearance of feelings of guilt for dedicating time to 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 patient’s evolution and share caregiver burden both practical and emotional that the situation entails, notifying them of your 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 they can freely express the frustration they feel or the resentment they may have. appear, as well as negative feelings. Faced with this, it is very common to start psychotherapeutic treatments that help the person to be able to detach themselves from these negative feelings and alleviate the emotions of stress, and.
Occasionally, in the face of good management of the situation, attention to personal care and the performance of psychotherapy, the symptoms of burnt out caregiver syndrome continue to persist and therefore, it is eventually necessary to use psychotropic drugs that help reduce the symptoms, such as hypnotic drugs that help with sleep hygiene or antidepressant or anxiolytic drugs, to reduce high levels of stress, anxiety and sadness.
What happens to caregiver syndrome when the dependent person dies? Due to the caregiver’s overload, after the person being cared for dies, the primary caregiver may experience a feeling of relief. This feeling contradicts the feelings of sadness expected in a situation of loss and can lead to feelings of guilt. Therefore, the treatment of caregiver syndrome does not end after the loss, but it is advisable to continue with the grieving process.
This article is merely informative, at 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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Bibliography
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