Family caregivers need to worry about themselves as much as the person they are caring for. Caring for yourself is part of being a good caregiver for another. In a study published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, “Quality of life: impact of chronic illness on the partner,” the authors stated: “… the most striking research finding is a tendency for the caregiver’s quality of life to be worse than that of the patient.”

What can you do?

Be on the alert for that Super Caregiver mentality that has you thinking you’re not an adequate caregiver unless you’re giving 100% of your attention to them and making sure that you’re never to have more fun than he or she is having.