Hi everyone ... 😊💕
I have come in late too.
Many of you know my situation, and how caring for my husband who is in denial of his illness is impacting, not just on me, but also on the grown children of our family, both those living at home, and the married ones.
We are all at risk of burnout, and certainly we suffer compassion fatigue ... usually dealt with through black humour, (but it's a thing in terms of self-care - it can really take the edge off ....)
I can really see my younger son struggling with both burnout and compassion fatigue at the moment and I have managed to talk him into placing himself into our family doctor's care, because we all need as much outside support as we can gain access to .... in our state our situation doesn't gain recognisitoon until there is a diagnosis over my husband .... 😔
@Former-Member, in my experience, stressors compound, and build, as @NikNik said, and each a point of burnout .... but self-care compounds too .... and this factor is soooo important !! Even if it doesn't feel like it is amounting to much, it is when each self-care act is added to the next .... and sometimes they are self-care thoughts rather than acts per se ....
Another concept I find that really helps me is the "being your own best friend" concept. What would you do to try to help to support a friend who is in your own situation ? Would you take her out for a coffee ? Then take yourself out for a coffee. Would you offer to walk with her and listen ? The go for a walk, and talk within your own headspace as if you were telling a close friend how you feel, and what is bothering you the most today. Would you sit and cry with her ? Hug her ? Then take yourself off somewhere and sit and have that cry .... wrap your arms around yourself (yes, really !!) and apply self-comfort that way.
You matter.
We all do.
