Did anybody else see Dr. Oz's show on Monday about stress? (I wanted to write him a letter and tell him about STRESS!!!)
The part of the show that really struck me (okay, scared me) was when he talked about burnout, and how it was different from just being stressed. These are the three symptoms they gave for burnout (from Dr. Oz's web site).
#1: Emotional Exhaustion ….the feeling of being emotionally drained, as if you feel you’ve got nothing left to give, even when dealing with the people and relationships that matter to you most.
#2 Depersonalization You feel mechanical and robotic. It’s as if you’re just going through the motions to survive the day. You feel as if your normal self has disappeared.
#3: A Sense of Diminished Personal Accomplishment ….feeling that you just can’t get anything right. You may feel that you are failing at your job or in your relationships. You’ve become very hard on yourself.
Except for the fact that they didn't talk about the pain and grief of losing a spouse, loneliness, physical exhaustion, etc., this pretty much sounded like the description of the life of a lot of caregivers, including me.
I wondered if anybody else saw the show, and what they thought. Or what do you think about these symptoms of burnout?
I missed it but I am going to copy and paste this to my desktop and let people know this is what we face. It is scary because I have felt this way for some time, especially no 3.
I think we as caregivers vacillate between these symptoms on a daily basis...each time focusing on one symptom, or maybe all three at once! And it sounds as though they didn't cover the fact that many times as caregivers,there isn't a lot we can do about our own special "burn-out" (aren't we fortunate) we just learn to cope and deal with it the best we can.
I didn't see the program but I am betting that his solutions would not help our situations. Am I stressed?????? Yes, but there are no easy answers for me.
Sarcasm does not always come through in the written word. I was definitely being sarcastic with my question. I have watched Dr. Oz, and he often gives good information, but IMO, his solutions to anything dealing with dementia are simplistic and not based in the reality in which we live. However, I haven't checked his website on the burnout segment. I will do that later today.
As the comic strip character, Cathy, used to say - AAACKKKK!!!!!!! I just went onto the Dr. Oz site, and maybe I didn't get to the right section, but I typed in "caregiver burnout" and the answer I got was:
"It takes a combination of things to avoid burnout. Taking care of your physical health is a good way to stay emotionally healthy. Good nutrition and physical activity both help fight depression. And a good night’s sleep can work wonders."
DUH!!!! We wouldn't HAVE burnout if we HAD THE TIME to take care of our physical health, eat right, exercise, and get a good night's sleep! YIKES!