How Caregiving Harms Your Health
When compared to their non caregiving counterparts, identify unit of measurement caregivers study higher levels of stress, distress, depression, emotional problems, together with cognitive problems.
Marie Marley
Betty hasn’t been to the medico for a mammogram or pap smear for 5 years – since earlier her married adult man Frank developed Alzheimer’s disease. As a caregiver, she lives inward a patch of chronic stress.
She’s tired all the time, doesn’t slumber good together with eats far likewise much. Her diet, which consists mainly of comfort foods these days, has instruct devoid of fruits together with vegetables. She doesn’t do at all anymore. She can’t shout out back the concluding fourth dimension she truly felt well.
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The Family Caregiver Alliance estimates that 44 i K m Americans are caregivers. And, the Alzheimer’s Association, inward its latest Facts together with Figures report, states that 15.5 million of those are caring for a loved i with Alzheimer’s disease.
What many of these caregivers don’t realize is that carrying out their duties may live on creating chronic stress, which, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance, tin Pb to a steady together with pregnant decline inward physical together with mental health. What’s more, the Alliance says that caregivers’ health status worsens every bit the patient’s status declines.
Women tend to sense worse wellness effects than men, who study fewer wellness effects than expected. And according to a study entitled Alzheimer’s Caregiving inward the US, “spouses who are serving every bit caregivers are alongside the to the lowest degree probable to charge per unit of measurement their wellness highly. Only 24% charge per unit of measurement their wellness every bit fantabulous or really good.”
The Family Caregiver Alliance study gives some insight into the possible reasons for caregivers’ declining health.
It says that for i thing, they neglect to pay attending to their ain health. They are slightly to a greater extent than probable to smoke together with eat to a greater extent than saturated fat. They may neglect to create total prescriptions, they patch they convey non gone to the medico every bit ofttimes every bit they should. They also study that their eating together with exercising habits are worse than earlier they became caregivers.
The National Alliance for Caregiving says that caregivers convey “an increased number of emergency room visits together with purpose of all types of wellness services.”
Furthermore, “caregivers convey an increment ($4,766 per year) inward healthcare costs associated with their caregiving.”
Not surprisingly, an article published inward the American Journal of Nursing states that caring for somebody with dementia is specially challenging, causing “more severe negative wellness effects than other types of caregiving.”
Mental Health Effects of Caregiving
According to the American Psychological Association (APA) caregiving has [the following] pregnant consequences on mental health:
“When compared to their non-caregiving counterparts, identify unit of measurement caregivers study higher levels of stress/distress, depression, emotional problems, together with cognitive problems. Estimates advise that betwixt twoscore – seventy pct of caregivers convey clinically pregnant symptoms of depression, with unopen to one-fourth to half of these caregivers coming together the diagnostic criteria for major depression.”This depression is non exclusively pregnant inward iitself, it tin Pb to physicial problems every bit well. (Alzheimer’s Association.)
Physical Health Effects of Caregiving
The APA study lists physical ailments mutual to caregivers, including “chronic hurting such every bit headaches together with backaches, together with weakened immune systems.”
The Family Caregiver Alliance lists wellness problems such every bit “chronic weather condition (including pump attack/heart disease, cancer, diabeter together with arthritis),” which it says laissez passer on at nearly twice the charge per unit of measurement of noncaregivers. Other wellness problems mentioned include:
“increased rates of physical ailments (including acid reflux, headaches, together with pain/aching), increased style to develop serious illness, together with high levels of obesity together with bodily pain.” Another physical ailment cited is a “diminished immune response, which leads to frequent infection together with increased endangerment of cancers.”One mightiness logically conclude that negative wellness consequences related to caregiving decrease when the attention recipient is admitted to a facility. However, Alzheimer’s Caregiving inward the the States constitute that fifty-fifty when their loved i is inward assisted living or a nursing home, the emotional stress of supporting them tin withal live on prevalent.”
Finally, the American Psychological Association says that
“strained caregivers convey a 63 pct greater postulate a opportunity of decease inside 4 years every bit compared to non-caregivers.”
This includes deaths from suicide, which, according to the Family Caregiver Alliance, is i of the consequences of the depression mutual inward caregivers.
Next week’s article volition focus on what caregivers tin create to protect their physical together with mental wellness from all of these illnesses.
About Marie Marley
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This is a revised version of an article that appeared on the Huffington Post.
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