Caregiving is a complex task in which you experience a sea of emotions ranging from compassion and love to guilt and anger. Sometimes, a caregiver feels depressed, frustrated, and lonely due to mounting challenges in caregiving. However, a caregiver should always learn to manage his or her anger. The powerful emotion can make you disrespectful towards your loved one. In the worst scenario, deliberate negligence in caregiving duties due to anger can put your loved one in a high-risk situation.
So, here are the top seven proven strategies that you can follow to effectively cope with anger as a caregiver.
Try to redirect your focus
When you are angry, redirect your focus to a TV show, a book, a hobby, an image or anything to avoid getting into an alteration that you might regret later on. Redirecting your focus will give you time to evaluate the situation.
Take a break
Walk away from the person or situation causing anger. Leave the room or refrain from having any physical presence near that person. Taking a short break will help you to evaluate other options to vent your anger. It will also help to choose the appropriate words.
Talk with someone
“Sometimes we need someone to just listen.” – Steve Maraboli
The above quote by the renowned motivational speaker clearly states the importance of communicating with someone when you are in anger, confusion or pain. Sometimes, you are angry, but you decide to not vent the same on your loved one. However, if you are frequently suppressing your anger, it may cause frustration.
Lead with empathy
Empathy is a kind of emotional intelligence. It facilitates you to put your feet in the shoes of the other person. Here, that person refers to the one who is making you angry by his or her actions or words. When you understand why your loved one is behaving in such a way, you will lose your anger and become calm.
Refrain from overthinking
Other than wasting your time and having more stress, you can’t achieve anything by thinking too much. So, refrain yourself from overthinking. Get back to the task of caregiving. If you are caring for someone with dementia or Alzheimer’s, you will discover that your loved one has no memories of the verbal spat.
Forgive yourself
Don’t always have guilt when you become angry with your loved one. Remember, no one is perfect. It is not easy to remain calm when things are extremely stressful.
Self-care
Sometimes, a caregiver becomes angry on small issues due to sadness or depression. So, try to take out time to take care of your physical and emotional well being. Socialize with your friends or try to do activities that you love. Also, make sure to have adequate sleep.
Let go of the anger you have due to your own frustration of fulfilling all the caregiving responsibilities without any assistance from other family members. Sometimes asking for help from a dear friend or colleague can help a long way. There are also plenty of free resources over the web where you can find useful tips to make sure you enjoy a smooth journey as a caregiver.