TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF – THE CAREGIVER

     TAKING CARE OF YOURSELF – THE CAREGIVER

It is so important for Caregivers of the Disabled to “Take Care of Themselves”, as I have been told many times.  Unfortunately, when you care for one or more disabled persons, you lose touch with yourself and actually do not know the meaning of it.  You are so busy taking care of the other person(s), that you lose touch with yourself.  There were times I didn’t even really look in the mirror to see what I looked like being so wrapped up in the care of others.  When I did look, I saw a disarrayed person, with my frizzed hair all over the place.  I looked aged, drawn, and very tired.

Many times this happens when you are too good at your job.  Often as is the case with raising Autistic Children, you have a certain degree of OCD and Anxiety, which is normal and common, but increased by giving care to this population.  I am strong and determined.  I became a perfectionist at what I did.  All these traits come with the territory and part of Routines and Strict Schedules.

Normally, when you deal with people with Behavior Issues, there is a degree of Behavior Modification that you learn which puts you on a rigid schedule.  You learn to become orderly and restricted according to the Disabled Person’s needs.  It is very easy to over-do it as you become more and more tuned into this life-style.

Sometimes it takes a major “change of life event” to jolt you to think more about yourself.  It often is not easy to do.  But, over time, when your own health issues become prominent, as you age, and have lived at least half your life or so as a Caregiver, this is the point of change.

Stress can do a lot of damage to our overall being.  Outlets have to be created in order to relieve some of it.  All things change over time, one way or another.   Some for the good and some for the not so good.   Establishing coping mechanisms can help along the way. 

Another way I learned to deal with my life’s trauma was to look at my whole life and not just the recent half that was a living nightmare.  You have to see yourself as a whole person with a whole lifetime, not what has overtaken you from all the stress and agony life has put on you. 

I always felt I had a Guardian Angel watching over me that comes to my rescue at my darkest hour.  We have to see that there is a light at the end of the dark Tunnel.