Before the pandemic, the responsibility of being a caregiver was great enough; then it became more difficult.In addition to feeling claustrophobic and deprived for more than a year, I also felt the tremendous pressure to take care of other people, protect their safety and help them

Coping with their stress and isolation.

In this unprecedented period, this is what I personally learned about taking care of others and myself. These lessons are still relevant and applicable long after the pandemic has passed.

1. Find a way to fill your glass

Even if you have work to do, doing things that can make you happy and relieve stress is not self-indulgence. In fact, the heavier your burden, the more important it is to take care of yourself.

As

CDC

It is pointed out that it is very common for women to take care of themselves excessively, but the CDC’s advice also applies to men: if you do not take care of your physical and mental health, sooner or later you will not be able to take care of others. and so:

1. Let some endorphins flow.
   Maybe you can’t take the spinning class yet, but you can still open the YouTube video and do your best in the living room.
2. Appreciate nature.
   I’m going to be blunt: you need to leave your house, you need to
   
   Breathe fresh air
   
   More frequent. Ok?
3. Take care of yourself first.
   It wasn’t until my best friend ordered us some nail polishes last summer that I realized how different I felt without my signature red pedicure.but Self care
   More than just spa treatments.If you are not keeping up with things like annual flu shots or routine cancer screenings, please schedule an appointment-in person or through
   
   Telemedicine.
4. Reach out.
   No matter how difficult it is, we still need to connect with our community.

2. Don’t try to do it all by yourself

Like you, people in life also need to cultivate themselves. When children or elderly people rely on you during difficult times that affect everyone, you may feel that it is your job to design their social and emotional satisfaction. But this is not the case, and neither can you.

Instead, ask yourself: What can help them be more independent? Instead of rushing to solve the problem, it is better to remove obstacles and provide alternatives. This will give the people you care about the sense of independence we all desire.

Connecting loved ones with information and resources and ensuring that their accessibility needs are met is the key to empowering them. It may also be the key to staying sane.

3. Take turns to rest

Before the pandemic, I cooked four or five

dinner

A week. After eight months, I was exhausted and never wanted to cook anymore. The workload has increased, but my processing power is not.

For me, the solution is to allow my family to support themselves in the kitchen occasionally. You and your roommate should take turns to rest and rest, not only for each other’s responsibility, but also for each other’s company.

Also, don’t be afraid

Ask your friends for help, anyone.

Create a caring support team. Delegate some tasks to others so you don’t have to do everything yourself.

4. Have some compassion for yourself and others

I cried for a few days because I thought that if I ventured out to eat salad vegetables, I would make my parents with weakened immune systems sick. Other times I think,

If my partner does not leave the house now, I swear I will throw her off the balcony.

Forgive yourself. For everything. Every time you can get angry with a kid who has reached out for the fifth snack since lunch. Because every time you don’t ask your loved one what is thinking, because you can’t handle more things without falling apart. Forgive them too.

5. Work hard for what you have experienced and learned

In some respects, the COVID-19 pandemic hit caregivers first, whether repaid or unpaid.

Before we even knew what we were dealing with, we responded in thousands of ways to enable our families to get through this complicated time.

Fast forward to the present, we are still there, unwavering. For this, caregivers all over the world should receive huge praise.

An earlier version of this article was originally published on


IBX insight.

About Mara Hughes

I work in health insurance marketing at Independence and I blog about how to deal with chronic diseases and other issues related to caregivers and health care consumers of all ages.