Managing Your Caregiver Loneliness Can Save Your Life
If you continue to stay lonely as a caregiver, your health and even your life are at risk. This is why it is important for you to manage your caregiver loneliness right now. So I’m going to show you the best ways you can learn to manage your caregiver loneliness so that you can have the livelihood for all you want in your life.
When Caregiver Loneliness Gets Worse
When your caregiver loneliness gets bad and reaching out seems impossible, the first thing you need to do is to start small. So first remember that you are not alone and it’s normal to feel some loneliness as a caregiver.
Next, it’s important that you maintain your sense of self. Can you think of 1 to 3 things you like to do that don’t take a lot of time and that you could do if you wanted to ?
If you could put one in the comments to the video, that might be helpful to other viewers.
How To Manage Your Caregiver Loneliness
Two things are needed to get started. You need to recognise that you are not alone AND to be able to think of some things that you enjoy doing. That’s when you will be able to start taking small steps to reconnect with the world around you.
The first step:
Closest to home, who is someone you like, who you would be comfortable sending a text to, right now ? You could start with ‘Hey, I know I’ve been out of touch but I’m having a difficult time. Would love to talk to you soon.’ Most people are happy to help, it turns out. And you might find that your friend understands more than you think.
A little further out, is there a group you are or were part of, that you’ve neglected because of your recent caregiver demands ? It may be worth checking in on the group member you felt closest to and see if there’s a meeting soon that you could attend. Or maybe you could arrange a zoom call at a time that works for you ?
Managing Your Caregiver Loneliness A Bit More:
How does it feel to imagine doing these things ?
- If it feels good, we’re on the right track and we can keep going.
- If it doesn’t feel good, it’s possible you could benefit from some counseling. You could share your situation with someone neutral. But feel free to keep reading, you might like some of what is coming.
Managing Your Caregiver Loneliness Or Else…
So a step up from a group you’ve known, there are groups that gather around topics you like. So maybe there’s a local group that takes walks in nature, or one that watches movies together. If you like either of these activities, you could go check it out. And feel free to change the activities, I’m only making suggestions.
And maybe you could just contact some of your closest family members. You could ask them if would be possible for you and them to meet or talk on the phone.
The trick here is to look for the lowest hanging fruit of connection with other human beings.
There are many caregivers you need to manage their caregiver loneliness. If you’d like to watch the video I’ve recorded about this topic “Your Caregiver Loneliness Puts Your Life At Risk” it is right here: https://youtu.be/WkAZvZ_Vvqk
Watch the video of this article HERE
If you cannot imagine initiating a connection with another person right now then I want to give you an easy way to cope, that is so easy. That’s why I’m going to share that with you in my next video and in my next blog article.
Sonia Weyers
Gestalt-therapist – Supporting Caregivers Emotionally
Dare The Freedom To Be Yourself
PS: For more tips for caregivers of loved ones with a loss of autonomy you can check out my blog , from 2024, my YouTube Videos or my book “The Sundown of Life”.