This month is Emotional Wellness Month, which is a great time to take a closer look at your senior’s emotional wellness. One of the biggest factors that can have a detrimental effect on your elderly family member’s emotional wellness can be stressors. Some stress is just a part of life, but other types of stress can a big problem that you want to reduce for your senior.
Stress Has Physical Impacts
Companion Care at Home Wantagh, NY: Emotional Wellness
Being stressed in any way can increase issues that your senior is already dealing with physically. For instance, she may be dealing with joint pain already and then stress on top just increases the pain and makes it more difficult to manage. There are also other physical effects of stress, like headaches, digestive issues, and trouble sleeping.
It Also Has Emotional Impacts
Beyond the physical, stress can emotionally impact your elderly family member. She may find that she’s inexplicably sad more often or that she’s irritable or has trouble concentrating. These emotional effects of stress can make it more difficult for your aging family member to engage in her life in a meaningful way, which contributes to even more stress.
Aging Is Stressful Enough
The bottom line is that aging is stressful enough. Increasing the stress with cyclical triggers and reactions just makes the whole situation worse. It’s worth it to find an answer for your senior in managing her stress properly. For physical issues, talking to her doctor can help immensely. But there are other things that you can both do to help your elderly family member to manage stress.
What Can You and Your Senior Do to Reduce Her Stress?
The same old guidelines about eating healthy foods and exercising more, especially if her doctor agrees, can be very helpful for your senior. Handling those tasks can be more difficult, though, which is where senior care providers might come in. Companion care at home gives your senior someone to talk to who can also make life easier for her, which can in turn greatly reduce the amount of stress your senior experiences throughout the day. Having someone there to help can also help your senior to stick with routines and boundaries that support her emotional wellness, including reducing her stress levels.
Talk with your senior about the benefits that companion care at home can offer to her. When she understands just how much they can assist her, she may be far more open to their help.