April 21, 2010
THIS WEEK WE WOULD LIKE TO TALK ABOUT REBUILDING AN ELDERLY IN HOME SENIOR CITIZENS SELF ESTEEM AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS TO HAVE FAMILY AND PRIVATE CAREGIVERS WATCH FOR SIGNS OF DEPRESSION AND OTHER RELATED ISSUES
By Carol Carbutti
Self esteem is an integral part of an individual’s mental makeup and human psychology. It is an image we have about ourselves, how we feel, how we react to our work, and our relationships with family. In general, how we socialize in the community as a whole. Self esteem is viewed as the basis of human psychology and each person is quite aware of their own self esteem. The same awareness of self esteem is present in our elderly parents, though it may change with the changes in the lifestyle and a change in the roles. As our in home senior citizens become more and more dependent on family caregivers and private companions, they begin to feel they are unimportant, and that others also perceive them to be so.
Caring for an aging parent may not be your first experience at caregiving and homecare. You may have been performing the role of a caregiver to your children by taking care of their psychological and emotional needs. Self esteem is an important aspect of child psychology too and it is crucial to their success later in life. As the primary caregiver for your elderly parent, you may have to perform the same functions, though you are not ‘raising them’. That means you have to take care of their physical health, their finances, their living arrangements and their self esteem and mental health as well.
As an individual, one cannot empathize with an at home elderly client due to the constant changes that go on in their lives and the great impact it has on their self esteem. Your own sense of self esteem stems from the fact that you are an independent individual and your ability to provide for your kids, perform your job well and also be useful to others in the society. From the viewpoint of the non medical healthy aging senior, these factors have changed and the roles have been reversed. This results in a feeling of worthlessness and low self-esteem for them.
The changes that the older adults face in terms of role reversals, dependency on their children or the loss of a spouse can be very difficult to cope. According to the perceptions of our aging retirees, they cease to be useful to anyone in any way and this increases their feeling of worthlessness in their golden years. Their pillars of existence and the ideas of life in general begin to disappear. They go from being heroes to their kids to being dependent on their kids, a fact that they cannot accept. Simple things like driving around or even walking become a safety issue.
Loss is always painful, be it loss of a spouse, of mobility, or health or independence. In such situations, it is no wonder that our senior citizens suffer from low self esteem. This is a precarious mental situation that may lead to depression and health problems that will prevent them from enjoying life. If there is no support system, the elderly baby boomers may even turn to alcohol or drug abuse and in severe cases, suicide.
We as caregivers should try to catch the signs of low self esteem at the earliest. These may manifest in the form of sadness, or losing interest in hobbies, not taking care of themselves, not socializing or having suicidal thoughts, etc. Other symptoms may be excessive repetition while telling a story about pleasant memories or trying to do things which they cannot cope with.
There are many ways to help your elderly mom or dad to regain their self esteem. The first is to offer emotional support and companionship. Homecare companions and family caregivers should ensure that their seniors are given adequate medical attention for their ailments. Another good therapy would be to allow them to spend their time in the company of their grandchildren or hire a private caregiver from a local agency like Comfort Keepers of Wallingford, CT who employee non medical home health caregivers for personal care, light housekeeping and errands. Many seniors look forward to visitors who come over for a few hours a week for a lunch date or a nice ride on a country road. Encourage a senior client to interact with their friends and to talk of the old times. As a caregiver, you need be compassionate and patient while dealing with their fears and anxieties.
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