Maintaining your own life takes some very practical forms, as well. Be sure you get enough sleep, Hisle counsels, and make time for exercise, even if its just a short walk outdoors or dancing to music inside the house. Lacy Camp adds that one of the quickest ways to feel defeated is to allow yourself to become isolated. She suggests that caregivers try to join a larger network, through a church or other organization, that will allow them the opportunity to get away for some time to themselves. Be informed about what to expect.
Uncertainty can be a source of great agitation.
When an illness strikes, one of the most difficult things for caregivers and their care recipients is not knowing what to expect next. One way to relieve some of the anxiety is to be informed about what's going to happen next, whether it's the physical reaction your care recipient will have to a new treatment or the emotional reaction you both may experience when old friends can't seem to adjust to your new circumstances. Write down the questions you have and be aggressive about getting answers to them. Whatever is in store next may not be pleasant, but in caregiving as in any other battle, forewarned is still forearmed. The grief process that caregivers experience, grieving over a long period for the losses that seem to stack up as time goes on, do not occur in a straight line.