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Caregiver Stress: Some Solutions and Coping An excerpt from Into the Mist Deion Sanders Jersey , When Someone You Love Has Alzheimer's Disease by Deborah Uetz and Dr. Anne Lindsay


There are certainly a multitude of variables that can cause stress for Alzheimer's caregivers. It is physically, financially, emotionally, socially, and cognitively demanding. To cope with all of these stressors Cheap Falcons Jerseys , you must recognize and address them. Letting them accumulate and fester will be damaging to you and your caregiving abilities. Below are methods of stress relief. Adapt them for your particular style, use as many as necessary to achieve stress-relief, and find methods of your own that work for you to relieve stress.


Try to avoid negative responses to stress. Some of the negative responses that are common among Western societies include alcohol and other substance abuse, overeating and eating food that is comforting but not particularly nutritious, and shopping or impulse buying to the extent that it can affect your financial well-being. Most of these provide only temporary stress relief and Qadree Ollison Falcons Jersey , if overused, can add to your stress by adding unnecessary physical and financial stress.


You have likely learned during the course of your lifetime what stress relievers work best for you. To be effective, individualize your stress relief to meet your needs and personality. Some effective stress-relieving techniques include:


Knowing your limitations. This has been discussed in some detail previously. Know when you have reached your limits regarding stress ? failure to do so will hurt you and could lead to abusive behaviors when you are dealing with your affected loved one.


Plan ahead. You know that stressors will arise and often can anticipate what the stress will be. When it comes to caregiving, this means planning ahead for how to deal with financial issues, the physical demands of caregiving John Cominsky Falcons Jersey , for the cognitive challenges you may face, and for the emotional strain. As in all of life, some things can't be predicted. You can, however, plan how you will deal with stress as it arises by learning and using stress relief techniques and making them a part of your life to the degree that it will be almost second nature to rely on them when you most need them.


Uncertainty about the future can cause significant anxiety and stress. There will always be uncertainty about the future Kendall Sheffield Falcons Jersey , whether there is a person in the family who has Alzheimer's disease or not. To cope with uncertainty, continue to do what you are currently doing: educate yourself about Alzheimer's disease and, to the extent possible, prepare yourself for what is to come. It is always different when it is your loved one involved and there will likely be events for which you haven't prepared yourself, but the more you can prepare yourself for the future the better. Note that preparing yourself is vastly different from worrying about the future and stewing about it. The latter is stress inducing and counter-productive. There is a great deal of power in the thoughts contained in the Serenity prayer used by Alcoholic Anonymous and other groups ? paraphrased Kaleb McGary Falcons Jersey , it advises us to do our best to control the things that we can control, let go of the things that we cannot control, and the wisdom to know the difference between the two.


Maintain a healthy diet. Eating ?comfort food? now and then is fine, but the more that you can eat a healthy, balanced diet the better it is for your overall health and ability to cope with stress. Foods and substances high in the following substances tend to compound the effects of stress by stimulating the same chemical substances and bodily functions as stress itself: caffeine Chris Lindstrom Falcons Jersey , sugar, nicotine, alcohol, and sodium (salt). Exercise. For many people exercise is one of the most effective means of relieving stress and maintaining good emotional health. Research has shown that brain chemistry changes in ways that improve your sense of well-being and overall mental health. It is one of the few things that we do in life that is good for almost every aspect of your health, both mental and physical. Caregiving also tends to lead to a tendency to isolate oneself Takkarist McKinley Falcons Jersey , and finding ways to exercise outside of the house, even by taking walks with a friend, is an excellent way to avoid isolation that can lead to and intensify depression and other effects of stress. Yoga is an excellent formalized exercise routine when it comes to maintaining health and reliving stress.


Work on your attitude. Negative thinking is destructive and serves no purpose other than to make you feel worse about your situation and the world around you. As discussed before, you must be realistic about your ability to undertake caregiving. If you think negatively about the situation you now find yourself in without honest appraisal of the situation, you're not being honest with yourself or realistic. If your realistic appraisal tells you that some or all of the tasks of caregiving are beyond your capabilities Calvin Ridley Falcons Jersey , then give yourself credit for being honest with yourself and work from that premise. If you simply tend to work from an ?I can't? perspective, learn to challenge your negative thought patterns. Catch your pattern at its beginning and counteract you negative thoughts with more positive ones. If it helps, write both down. If you tend toward the negative, you may have to work to find more positive thoughts to counterbalance the negative ones. The positives are there but some people have to work harder to find them. Use positive self-talk if it helps: tell yourself that you can do things rather than you can't, that you are capable Julio Jones Falcons Jersey , and so on. And do not dwell on your failures. You will have them ? everyone does. If you dwell on them they will magnify, overshadow your successes, and lead to negative thinking patterns. Do not avoid your emotions. You are in a situation in which strong emotions will sometimes arise and you must acknowledge and deal with them. D . Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Cheap Jerseys Online Cheap NBA Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys China Wholesale Cheap Soccer Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Cheap Mens NFL Jerseys Cheap Mens NCAA Jerseys Cheap NBA Jerseys