You may have a lot of stress right now, but that doesn’t mean you have to keep letting it be a problem. Managing your stress well means first taking a good long look at what causes it.
Look at What Is Creating the Most Stress for You
If you haven’t already, you need to really examine what is creating stress in your life. There is “good” stress and “bad” stress. The good stress is the kind that you feel when there are positive changes in your life or when you’re excited about something. It’s the type of stress that is not caused by fear or feeling threatened by something. The bad stress comes from things that are overwhelming or that feel like a threat or that cause you to be afraid. Which type of stress are you experiencing most often and from where is it coming?
Determine Which Stress Triggers Are Avoidable
Once you’ve got an idea what stresses you’re experiencing, you can really get to work. Some of the stress you’re experiencing is avoidable and some isn’t. For instance, some of the stress you experience as a caregiver is avoidable. You can take breaks to keep from feeling overwhelmed or you can do research to learn about your senior’s health issues so that they’re not something that you’re afraid of any longer. Stress triggers that you can avoid are fantastic because you can do something about them.
Plan What You Can Plan
It’s not always possible to avoid stress, especially unexpected stress or the types of stress that come with life. What you can do is try to plan as much as possible for those types of stress. You maybe can’t avoid them, but if you have a plan for dealing with them as appropriately as possible, that’s going to give you a leg up.
Make Sure You’ve Got a Support System
Finally, you need to have a support system in place as a caregiver. You can’t do everything completely on your own, no matter how much it seems like you might have to. There are a lot of different resources that you can add to your support system. Don’t forget about friends and family members, but you can also include your senior’s medical team and even home care providers. Other community resources and support groups may also make a spot for themselves in your support system.
Tackling your stress with a plan gives you a chance to see what works and what doesn’t. It also makes you look at your stress from the perspective of something you can do at least a little about, rather than something that just happens to you.
IF YOU OR AN AGING LOVED ONE IS CONSIDERING CAREGIVERS IN KNIGHTDALE, NC, PLEASE CONTACT THE CARING STAFF AT SENIORS HELPING SENIORS TODAY. CALL (919) 761-5346.