12 Signs You Are Experiencing Caregiver Compassion Fatigue

Edmonton Respite Care  |  November 28, 2018

Everything Caregivers Need to Know About Experiencing Compassion Fatigue in Edmonton, AB

Caregiver Compassion Fatigue | When family or friends must care for a loved one, symptoms of chronic stress are likely to appear. The caregiver can suffer emotionally and physically from the loving care they’re providing to someone else. This common problem called compassion fatigue is a term given to caregivers who might be helping someone injured, ill, or traumatized.

Caregivers usually have the best intentions as they help, but someone who is elderly, ill, or incapacitated can be an overwhelming burden on one’s mental, physical, and emotional abilities.

Compassion Fatigue VS Burnout

Compassion fatigue is similar to burnout but is more unpredictable in its onset. Burnout usually takes longer to emerge whereas symptoms of compassion fatigue can arrive suddenly. Burnout can be so severe that someone experiencing it will even find it necessary to leave a job, or even an occupation entirely.

With compassion fatigue, someone can typically be treated much more easily, but there are specific things one must do for self-care while providing care for a loved one.

Is Respite Care the Answer?

It’s mandatory to rejuvenate between caregiving shifts. Compassion fatigue may create intense emotional pain and physical fatigue. Caregivers must watch for symptoms and then learn the tools to manage the stress healthily. If providing care for a senior parent, friend, or loved one, ask for assistance before things get too hard on you.

12 Common Symptoms of Caregiver Compassion Fatigue:

1. Feelings of inequity toward the caregiver relationship
2. Loss of meaning in caregiving
3. Withdrawal, isolation, or feelings of being disconnected
4. Apathy or a lower threshold for compassion or empathy
5. Problems arising in other relationships
6. Difficulty sleeping
7. Weight loss
8. Destructive behaviours or substance abuse
9. Unexplained headaches
10. Anger, irritability, anxiety
11. Chronic exhaustion (emotional or physical)
12. Feelings of dread, impending disaster, or guilt

Comfort Keepers® in Edmonton Can Help with In-Home Elder and Respite Care!

If you are concerned about the health and well-being of your aging loved ones we can help with retirement care, 24-hour care, respite care, senior care, companionship care, end-of-life care, post-surgery care, palliative care, personal care, senior living transition services, and much more! 

Comfort Keepers®’ are trained caregivers who help provide senior clients with the highest quality of life possible to keep them happy and healthy at home. 

Companionship Care and Interactive Caregiving™

Our Interactive Caregiving™ provides a system of care that addresses companionship, safety, nutrition, mind, body, and activities of daily living (ADLs).

Moreover, our trained caregivers are selected with one specific quality: empathy. Empathetic care is care that starts in the heart, and it allows us to meet our client’s exact needs. 

Home Care Edmonton

To learn more about senior care in Edmonton, contact the Comfort Keepers® office to discuss our unique service offering. If you live in Devon, Edmonton, Sherwood Park, or Stony Plain and surrounding areas, contact Comfort Keepers at 780-465-4665.

Is Invoicing Modelling and Client Direct Home Care the Right Option for You?

Comfort Keepers® Edmonton is an Approved Service Provider for the Client Directed Homecare Invoicing (CDHCI) Program Offered by Alberta Health Services. Read more about the program HERE.

Comfort Keepers® Edmonton is here to help you and your loved ones get the best care possible. Recently awarded the “Accredited with Exemplary Standing” seal by Accreditation Canada, our Edmonton location has achieved the highest available certification in Canada for Home Care services, clearly demonstrating Comfort Keepers’ commitment to offering safe, high-quality home care to its senior clients in Edmonton.

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