Strategies for Managing Emotional Stress Among Caregivers
Caregiving, a role often filled by family members, is associated with emotional distress, as measured by anxiety, brain functioning, stress, and depression. To cope with this emotional distress, caregivers develop coping strategies that can be grouped into problem-focused and emotion-focused coping.
Problem-focused coping strategies involve taking direct action to address the challenging situation. For instance, caregivers might confront the senior patient when things go wrong and involve a third person or mediator to solve conflicts. On the other hand, emotion-focused coping strategies, such as venting of anger and frustration, seldom provide lasting relief and can lead to mental health problems such as self-deception, sophistry, avoidance, and retrogression.
Research shows that caregivers who engage in problem-focused coping are better able to regulate their level of involvement and avoid excessive burden, leading to better psychological stability and lower risk of mental health disorders such as depression. This is consistent with models like Antonovsky’s salutogenetic theory, emphasizing coping confidence and meaningful interpretation as resilience factors.
Studies also indicate that caregivers use problem-focused coping more frequently than emotion-focused coping, suggesting a tendency toward proactive strategies that address caregiving challenges directly. Caregivers who define the caregiving situation in positive terms experience lower levels of emotional distress.
However, caregivers who opt for emotion-focused coping strategies often find themselves constantly dealing with personal emotional issues and may fail to find peace in life. This is particularly true for caregivers with a negative perception of the caregiving experience.
The demands of caregiving, including the workload, can contribute to stress. Common genes and a shared environment between the caregiver and patient can also increase the level of stress. Blaming oneself, avoiding conflict, running away from confrontation, and toxic codependency can add to the caregiver's misery. Defining the caregiving experience in negative terms can adversely affect the caregiver's mental and spiritual health.
In conclusion, problem-focused coping strategies tend to be more effective than emotion-focused coping strategies for caregivers dealing with emotional distress. By enabling caregivers to actively manage stressors and maintain psychological balance, problem-focused coping strategies can reduce caregiver burden and improve mental well-being. Emotion-focused coping, while providing some short-term relief, may not be as effective in reducing the overall burden and anxiety linked to caregiving, especially in demanding situations such as caring for dementia patients. Stress is prevalent in informal caregivers caring for their senior or disabled family members, and adopting problem-focused coping strategies can help mitigate these stressors.
References:
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6680300/ [2] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7426523/ [3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5430737/ [4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6178417/
Caregivers who employ problem-focused coping strategies from the field of health-and-wellness might experience better stress management and mental health, as these strategies can help reduce caregiver burden and improve psychological stability. On the other hand, excessive reliance on emotion-focused coping strategies in informal caregiving situations could lead to mental health challenges and a prolonged strain on caregivers' mental health and well-being.
