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How to Adjust Your Thinking about the Situations that Cause You Stress

Posted: 7/8/2016 8:30 AM by Interim HealthCare

Family caregivers handle a lot for their elderly loved ones and for other family members. Unfortunately, that can mean that they wind up feeling quite a bit of stress that can be difficult to manage.

Look at Your Problems from Another Angle
Quite often, the situations that cause stress for you are ones that you only see from a negative angle. If you can turn those around and look at them from a more positive standpoint, you can find your stress around that situation melting away. This can take quite a bit of practice, though, since it's not second nature to automatically look for the silver lining first. You'll find that this habit can help you in many different arenas, however.

Look at Your Stress in Terms of the Big Picture Instead of Situationally
Another problem that often plagues people who are swimming in stressful situations is that almost every situation seems to be stress-inducing. But does it really matter in terms of the big picture? For example, someone uses the wrong dish sponge to clean the kitchen counter. Ordinarily, this might cause you to have a stressful reaction, but will it matter a week from now? Especially if you wash your dish sponges regularly, this might not be as big a deal as it feels to you right now. Look at each situation and ask yourself how important it will be months or even years from now.

Modify Your Standards
If part of your stress comes from wanting everything to be "right" and "correct," it's possible that perfectionism is your actual problem. When you demand perfectionism, it sets you up for living in a stressful environment and potentially also for failure. No one can meet perfect standards every day, every month, or every year. There are going to be times that you just cannot meet your own expectations. The answer is to allow good enough to be good enough so that you can focus on what is really important.

Take Time for Yourself
One big reason that family caregivers in particular find themselves in such stressful situations is that they don't have enough down time just for themselves. When you're constantly on call, you're putting yourself in a 24/7 schedule of stress. Take the time that you need to relax and to recharge. If family, friends, or even elder care providers are there to allow you that time, make sure that you give yourself that gift.

Adjusting your thinking often means adjusting some of your behaviors, too.

If you or someone you love is in need of elder care please contact Interim HealthCare today!