Caregiver syndrome or caregiver stress is a condition of exhaustion, anger, rage, or guilt that results from unrelieved caring for a chronically ill dependent. The term is often used by health care professionals, but it is not listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. Almost 66 million Americans are providing care to those that are ill, aged, and/or disabled for an average of 39.2 hours per week. Over 13 million caregivers are also caring for their own children as well. Caregiver syndrome is acute when caring for an individual with behavioral difficulties, such as: fecal incontinence, memory issues, sleep problems, wandering (dementia), and aggression. Typical symptoms of the caregiver include: fatigue, insomnia, stomach complaints, and so on with the most common symptom being depression. Roughly 70% of caregivers suffer from depression. Due to the deterioration (both physically and mentally) of these caregivers, health professionals have given this a name, Caregiver Syndrome.
Read more about Caregiver Syndrome: Symptoms of Chronic Stress, At Risk Populations, Caring For Those With PTSD, Questions Clinicians May Ask About Caregiver Syndrome, Do Any of These Quotes Describe How You Feel As A Caregiver?, How Do You Respond To The Stressors of Caregiving?, Issues in Health Care, Where To Find Help, REACH Program, Benefits of Caregiving
Famous quotes containing the words caregiver and/or syndrome:
“A new talker will often call her caregiver “mommy,” which makes parents worry that the child is confused about who is who. She isn’t. This is a case of limited vocabulary rather than mixed-up identities. When a child has only one word for the female person who takes care of her, calling both of them “mommy” is understandable.”
—Amy Laura Dombro (20th century)
“[T]he syndrome known as life is too diffuse to admit of palliation. For every symptom that is eased, another is made worse. The horse leech’s daughter is a closed system. Her quantum of wantum cannot vary.”
—Samuel Beckett (1906–1989)