Anxiety refers to the extreme and too much worrying and fearing about the circumstances that happen in one’s life daily. Burnout, on the other hand, is defined as the disappearance of an individual’s drive or excitement — especially where the person’s commitment to a reason or bond fails to show the preferred outcome. These two conditions may have different meanings, but they are not that far from one another. The former can be the result of the latter that commonly happens in the workplace.
Since caregiving is the art that many are practicing, the boundary between work and personal life is becoming more and more extinct. There are many guides that can help you bear and execute the duties of a caregiver, such as the award-winning book of Eleanor Gaccetta titled One Caregiver’s Journey. Being a family caregiver is really hard to the point that many are being burnt out and anxious. To help you recognize the symptoms of work anxiety and burnout, here’s what you should know.
Change in sleeping and eating habits
You should probably have known your sleeping patterns by now. You may have also been familiar with your eating habits. These two integral things can greatly impact your physical. They are also the ones that are commonly affected if you started to get anxious and/or burnout from caregiving. In the beginning, perhaps you cannot notice how you have a hard time sleeping, wants to sleep too much, don’t want to eat, or desires to eat more than usual. Until one day, you become aware of how you cannot get adequate sleep and fall asleep at your bed time, as well as how you don’t crave the same food and don’t eat on the typical eating hours. You should take note of these changes.
Feeling demotivated and tired
Feeling exhausted and drained from work can lead to demotivation and tiredness. The more you become burnt out, the bigger the tendency that you alienate from work-related events. You will start to see caregiving as the thing that causes you so much frustration and exhaustion. Hence, it can make you become cynical about caregiving and the individuals around you. The effects of these emotions can become intense that it may create a change in your mental and physical well-being.
Extreme worrying and distress
Intense and irrational worrying can emerge when a caregiver starts to get anxiety from your job. This can also attract a lot of stress, which makes it more complex. The well-being of a caregiver must be given adequate attention because it can affect your work performance. But, it is unavoidable that you develop these conditions due to the nature of the work. What you should do best is to notice these signs and attend to it, so that you can restore your hundred-percent holistic health.
Difficulty in performing the usual tasks
Caregiving requires too much time and energy. You should be so attentive, caring, and patient in order to help the family member that needs assistance. But, these tasks can also become the primary reasons why you become less interested and more tired in your job. As a result of the burnout, you will start to worry too much and perform your job poorly. Everything related to caregiving becomes tiresome and draining, which makes you less and less interested in it. It will also make you barely creative and enthusiastic.
Constant headaches and body pain
Have you ever observed how your head constantly aches, your temples continuously twinges, and your back regularly hurt? These are the typical symptoms of stress and burnout that can lead to discrepancies in your physical health. These body pains will always cause troubles for you. Sometimes they can be treated with medication and massage, but they will never go away if you don’t give attention and care to yourself. Never forget to take the same care to yourself as the one that you provide to others.