The Therapist Is Diagnosed

I try to post on my blog at least every other day, except weekends. But this week I just can't seem to get motivated to do anything. Even my hubby had to encourage me to talk with him last night. I didn't have the energy for that either. He must have noticed I wasn't holding it together too well. I told him I had been getting the basics done everyday, but I'd been feeling irritable and tired all the time and just wanted to be by myself. I told him a few more of my symptoms and he said, "You have care giver's burnout". Huh? Me? Now, I'm a therapist by profession though I haven't practiced for over 5 years now so I'm a little out of the loop. I understood what he was saying, but needed him to explain the symptoms. Apparently, it's becoming a common issue he sees in his job. He deals with the elderly and their families on a daily basis in our county. Care giver's burnout is becoming a recognized issue for many of the families. My husband also teaches at a local college and incorporates this issue into his classes. It seems that this problem doesn't only affect caregiver's of the elderly, but it can affect anyone caring daily for others.

When I look at what I do everyday, I realized that I get very few breaks, if any. My son has PDD so I have therapists in and out of my house, and I also have two other children to care for each with their own issues. My husband works long hours so I'm basically a single parent most days. Not a horrible situation by any stretch, but it can get overwhelming. There is little time to take just for me. And since I am an introvert, I know I need time to regroup. I guess I didn't realize I wasn't getting it.

I looked up care giver's burnout to learn more about it. I was surprised. It mirrors symptoms of depression pretty closely, but it's categorized as a stress disorder. Here is a good link if you want to know more about it:

http://women.webmd.com/caregiver-recognizing-burnout

After realizing what I was doing to myself by not taking breaks and working constantly, I decided I am going to force myself to sit down at least an hour a day and do something fun, like quilt or read. Baking is fun for me too, but I think I need to pace myself with it. Just start small and see what happens. Hey, it's not the worst thing that could happen, right? :)