Blog
9 June 2025
Tips for handling caregiver stress
When you are a caregiver, it is easy to forget about your own needs. However, as difficult as it might seem, you need to pay attention to yourself too.
Caring for caregivers
Physical symptoms can affect everything from sleep to our ability to even carry out the tasks involved in caregiving. The emotional experiences involved with providing care can strain even the most capable person.
The resulting feelings of anger, anxiety, sadness, isolation, exhaustion, and then guilt for having these feelings, can exact a heavy toll.
It’s important to recognise the signs of caregiver stress and take action to limit them. And remember, if you feel that you need assistance on a temporary or permanent basis, we can help.
What are signs of caregiver stress?
- Disturbed sleep. Back, shoulder or neck pain, muscle tension
- Headaches
- Stomach / digestive problems (upset or acid stomach, cramps, heartburn, gas, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, diarrhoea)
- Weight fluctuation (gain or loss)
- Loss of hair
- Fatigue
- High blood pressure, irregular heart palpitations
- Chest pain
- Perspiration
- Skin disorders (hives, eczema, psoriasis, tics, itching)
- Periodontal disease, jaw pain
- Reproductive problems / infertility
- Weakened immune system suppression, more colds, flu, infections
Emotional signs of caregiver stress
- Anxiety.
- Depression
- Moodiness/mood swings
- Butterflies
- Irritability, easily frustrated, road rage
- Memory problems and lack of focus
- Feeling out of control
- Increased substance abuse
- Phobias
- Argumentative
- Feeling of isolation.
Feel like yourself again
Caregivers who insist on time for themselves within a busy life have more energy and are better able to weather stress. And that allows them to be more reliable to those who depend on them. Most caregivers like the idea of ‘me’ time but are convinced they can’t find it.
Write down, if you’re stressed as a Caregiver how would you care for yourself?
Buy time for yourself
Don’t underestimate the value of outsourcing. Yes, it means spending money. But your time carries a price tag, too – and your health and peace of mind are priceless. Look into hiring a caregiver to manage your loved one’s care needs. Resist the excuse that nobody can care as well as you can; this may well be true, but many paid professionals do a wonderful job. The trick is to apply the time you buy toward yourself, not anything or anyone else. If a professional caregiver or a sibling spends time with your loved one on Saturday mornings, go out to do something personally meaningful during that block of time – this means don’t just run errands.