Caring for the Sick, Don't Forget to Take Care of Yourself

Caring for friends or family members who are sick, especially chronic pain, is not an easy job. For your job to work well, your health must always be maintained. Come see the complete guide on how to make the body stay healthy when treating sick people. If you have ever looked after a sick person, you surely realize that this task is not as easy as imagined. There are adjustments and sacrifices that must be made, not only by the caregiver, but also the whole family of the patient being treated. Especially if the disease is classified as chronic, such as diabetes, arthritis, dementia, or cancer, which generally occurs in the long term.

Threatening Risk

Duties of people who care for sick patients usually include basic needs, such as preparing food, medicine, helping patients bathe, dress, to relieve themselves. It is this task that puts them at high risk of experiencing stress, illness, and often financial problems. Caring for the sick can affect physical, emotional, and mental health, so that in some people it can cause people who care to complain about a variety of symptoms of health problems. Such as heartburn, headaches, muscle and joint pain, high blood pressure, infections, to depression which can also have an impact on drug abuse, alcohol, and smoking addiction. The challenges that you may get will be even greater if you treat patients with dementia. In many cases, people with dementia need more assistance, but cannot express gratitude or other positive emotions. Undergoing activities in this situation can make you more easily depressed.

To Stay Healthy

You must realize that you cannot treat others if your body's condition is not healthy. Therefore, maintaining physical and mental health yourself is very important before you take care of the sick. Let's follow the following simple ways so you stay in shape when treating sick people:

• Get enough rest

Caring for the sick is a pretty tiring job. Therefore, as much as possible make sure you get enough rest. If you can not rest at night, sleep during the day can also be a solution. As much as possible take advantage of the slightest free time to rest.

• Eat healthy food

Eating healthy food should be easier to do because the people you care for almost certainly also have to eat healthy food. You might be able to cook at once for both of you.

• Exercise regularly

Exercise 4-6 times a week for half to one hour can help relieve stress, improve mood, and increase energy. You can also do light exercise with the person you are caring for, for example by walking. You can also work around this by pushing the person you are guarding in a wheelchair, while walking around the area around the hospital if possible. Besides being useful for your physical activities, it also helps to refresh for a moment from the boring room atmosphere.

• Manage stress

Taking care of sick people throughout the day makes you vulnerable to stress. You can do a variety of possible ways to manage stress, such as by reading a book, watching TV, or chatting with friends when the person you are caring for is taking a break.

• Check your health regularly

Doing a health test when treating sick people is important even if you don't feel any symptoms of health problems. Watch for unusual symptoms such as stress, fatigue, loss of appetite, or lack of sleep. Therefore, the disease will be more likely to recover if detected early.

• Avoid smoking, consuming alcohol, or drugs

Although it makes you calmer for a moment, but realize, smoking, drinking alcohol or drugs can bring negative effects on health in the long run. If you can't stop using one or all of them at once, consider asking for medical help.

• Take a break or rest a little

Consider taking time off from caring for the sick, especially if you feel stressed or overwhelmed. However, your mental health will also affect the people you care for. Instead, you can find someone to replace you for some time.

• Try to be realistic

No need to feel guilty and assume you have not tried your best when the condition of the person you care for worsens. Focus on the doctor's plan going forward or letting go if it can't improve.

• Ask for help from others

Taking care of the sick plus doing homework can be very tiring. Try to distribute work that can be done by other parties such as laundry or mowing the lawn.

Helping people in need, including caring for the sick, is a noble task. You can also feel good, feel needed, make life feel more meaningful, strengthen relationships with people or family members who are cared for, and learn new things. Therefore, try to always maintain your own health, so you can do the noble task well.