Addressing Burnout from Informal Caregiving

For this week’s blog, I am going to talk about what is known as “informal caregiving”. Informal caregiving can be defined as providing care for a family member, friend or acquaintance without pay and often without any specific training in providing care. Many people may find themselves in a situation where they need to provide care due to a lack of support services available in their area. Individuals are often providing care to people experiencing high physical and emotional needs such as persons with disabilities, older adults, or those with a severe illness. This high level of persistent need can lead to severe burnout for the caregiver which can have both emotional and physical symptoms.

Regarding burnout, it is important that caregivers recognize the symptoms early enough to address it. Moreover, caregivers of individuals with long-term, high needs conditions can also suffer from depression and anxiety in addition to burnout (McGuigan, et al., 2024; Lopez-Hartmann et al., 2012). This is because the obligations associated with caring for someone can include many activities such as arranging medical appointments, being emotionally available and just assisting with ordinary tasks daily while trying to manage your own life at the same time. Therefore, with the consistent demands that are placed onto the caregiver, it can be easy to feel that you are constantly giving of yourself without receiving much benefit in return which can also lead to feelings of anger (Lopez-Hartmann et al. , 2012).

Counselling can be of benefit to caregivers who are experiencing challenges coping with their own emotions while also being supportive of those that they are caring for as it provides a safe space for expression. A counsellor can also assist with reinforcing your own boundaries and learning to prioritise your own needs when necessary. In addition, clinical interventions that may help can also include CBT and learning how to practice mindfulness (McGuigan, et al., 2024). Therefore, if you are struggling with the challenges associated with providing to care to someone in your life, I would encourage you to consider counselling as a path to self-care and finding alternative methods to cope.

References

Lopez-Hartmann, M., Wens, J., Verhoeven, V., & Remmen, R. (2012). The effect of caregiver support interventions for informal caregivers of community-dwelling frail elderly: a systematic review. International journal of integrated care, 12, e133. https://doi.org/10.5334/ijic.845

McGuigan, K., Laurente, G., Christie, A., Carswell, C., Moran, C., Yaqoob, M. M.,Bolton, S., Mullen, R., Rej, S., Gilbert, P., McKeaveney, C., McVeigh, C., Tierney, C., Reid, J., Walsh, I., Forbes, T., Noble, H. (2024). Effectiveness of interventions for informal caregivers of people with end-stage chronic illness: a systematic review. Systematic Reviews, 13(245), 1-28.https://doi.org/10.1186/s13643-024-02641-x