What Is Caregiver Burnout

Caregiver Burnout is a condition that occurs when caregivers feel overstressed by the responsibility of caring for another adult - generally their parent or a spouse. The day to day demands of being a caregiver can add up quickly, resulting in the caregiver getting less and less sleep and spending more time worrying over details such as if they remembered appointments, do they have the money to pay bills, have they forgot to order medication refills, did they remember to feed the dog and goldfish, and so forth. As you can see even small things can suddenly become a factor of added stress and contribute to the caregiver feeling a sense of being "burned out".

Most who suffer from caregiver burnout do not even realize what is happening to them until the problem has already progressed to a point where they are getting increasingly short tempered, crying easily, feeling hopeless about their situation as a caregiver, or worst of all, taking their frustrations out on the care recipient.

Next - Recognizing signs of caregiver burnout