Do care about and for someone with an illness? Are you the primary care-giver? If you answer yes to any of these questions, it might be worth knowing about caregiver fatigue. WebMD describes this as follows:
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-disease-recognizing-caregiver-burnout
It's a reasonably serious fatigue from long-term caregiving, and it is correlated with long-term health consequences for the caregiver. There is some evidence that this fatigue is associated with shortened telomeres, likely indicating a shorter life-span.
http://www.pnas.org/content/101/49/17312.long
Nurses, doctors, and people with relatives or close friends that are ill are at risk.
I've watched my Mom deal with fatigue while caring for my Dad who has bipolar. And, I worry about my partner sometimes, because she can get quite strung out from dealing with life and me at the same time. It is important that we all, caregivers and care receivers, keep in mind the costs of caregiving. Maybe we can find a way to give our caregivers a break.
No comments:
Post a Comment