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Signs of Caregiver Stress – Anxiety May Be the Worst
By Harriet Hodgeson
Taking care of my mother for nine years taught me about caregiver stress. My mother had progressive dementia and, as the years passed, she turned into a stranger. I didn’t know her any more. Though my husband often helped with caregiving tasks, most of the responsibilities were mine. Caregiving became a lonely experience.
“Many caregivers do most or all of the caregiving for a loved one alone,” according to the Elder Independence of Maine Website. The organization lists the warning signs of stress in its article, “The Stresses of Caregiving.” The signs of stress include denial, anger, social withdrawal, anxiety, depression, exhaustion, sleeplessness, irritability, lack of concentration, and personal health problems.
The Alzheimer’s Association lists the same signs in a Website article, “Caregiver Stress.” According to the article, “Too much stress can be damaging to both a caregiver and the person with Alzheimer’s.” This comment also applies to those who are caring for someone with sudden or chronic illness. I had all of the signs of caregiving, but anxiety was the worst. My anxiety could be divided into four parts.
1. Financial anxiety. I moved my mother to Minnesota and found a senior housing apartment for her. After she moved in I discovered she had been defrauded of $50,000 and her remaining money was almost gone. But she continued to spend money at an alarming rate. In fact, she became an addictive spender. Needless to say, I worried about her spending constantly.
2. Behavior anxiety. My mother became an angry, unpredictable person. She had a fist fight with one of the senior housing residents and stole a teddy bear from another. She put a can of soda in the microwave and it caught fire and melted. She went for a walk, fell down and injured her shoulder so badly that surgeons had to install a new socket. “What will happen next?” became the question of the day.
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