It’s a big challenge and responsibility to be someone’s caregiver. It can be especially difficult if you live in the same home.
Without setting boundaries, caregiving can easily consume you and cut you off from the things you must do to care for yourself—including getting the quality sleep you need to function at your best.
Caregiving for a loved one can take a toll on your physical and mental health. It can also impact your sleep. This article will explore caregiver sleep deprivation and offer tips for helping to ease some of your burden.
What causes caregiver sleep deprivation?
Studies show that up to 76% of caregivers for ill family members reported poor sleep quality. Female caregivers are even more likely to be affected.
Short sleep duration and frequent awakenings are common. The care recipient’s characteristics, such as their health status, can also affect the caregiver’s sleep.
Their nighttime needs—requiring the caregiver to be alert or attend to them—can lead to restless, fragmented sleep. The caregiver’s own health status and symptoms can interfere with sleep.
Anxiety, depression, and fatigue are associated with sleep disturbance in caregivers.
What are the risks of caregiver sleep deprivation?
Sleep deprivation can create risks for both the care recipient and the caregiver. Being exhausted can cloud the caregiver’s judgment, slow their response times, and even lead to dangerous situations.
Physical health effects
Sleep deprivation leads to feelings of fatigue, sluggishness, and slowed response times. Its symptoms include excessive daytime sleepiness that can lead to falling asleep immediately after sitting down or even falling asleep while driving.
It can make you agitated and irritable, even aggressive toward your sick or aging loved one.
“Stress causes poor sleep and poor sleep causes stress,” explains Noah Kass, a New York City-based psychotherapist. “Both stress and lack of sleep put you at greater risk of developing long-lasting physical illnesses, including hypertension and chronic pain.”
Lack of sleep also weakens your immune system, making you susceptible to a wide range of physical and mental challenges, adds Kass.
Mental health effects
Sleep deprivation affects caregivers by increasing stress and reducing their ability to support care recipients effectively,” says Kristie Tse, founder of Uncover Mental Health Counseling in New York City.
Lack of sleep leads to irritability and mood swings, which can strain relationships, notes Tse. “This exhaustion compromises decision-making, which can endanger both the caregiver and the care recipient,” she says.
Chronic sleep deprivation can result in anxiety or depression, “making caregiving feel burdensome,” adds Tse.
In extreme cases, she says, “Lack of sleep can lead to feelings of hopelessness, making it essential for caregivers to prioritize their own well-being to provide adequate support for others.”
Effect on caregiving performance
“Sleep deprivation can lead to many mistakes in caregiving,” says Patty Johnson, PsyD, clinical psychologist at Nia Integrative Healing in Oak Park, Ill., “from administering the wrong medication and being distracted while cooking to missing critical medical appointments.”
Driving a vehicle while sleep-deprived can lead to speeding without realizing it or to “potentially tragic results,” says Johnson.
Additionally, fatigued caregivers “may make crucial mistakes” because of compromised cognitive functioning and decreased attention, concentration, and memory, she says.
Johnson points out that emotional health and proper sleep are closely related. “People who are sleep-deprived can feel sad, unmotivated, and have difficulty following a routine,” she says.
How to deal with caregiver sleep deprivation
“It is your job, and no one else’s, to make sure you get enough sleep so you can be there for the person you are caring for,” Kass says.
It’s important to eat well and consistently to maintain your energy and health, he adds. Kass also recommends relaxing before bedtime. “Don’t go straight from taking care of someone else to trying to go to bed yourself,” he says.
Johnson suggests creating a routine for sleep “even if it does not go as planned every night.” She says naps “may be necessary at times.” Another consideration is having a backup caregiver “whenever possible,” she adds.
An important element of caregiving is self-care. “You also have to set serious boundaries that are non-negotiable,” says Kass. “Don’t bite off more than you can chew—you need breaks, time off, and vacations.”
The bottom line: Recognize that if you don’t take care of yourself there’s no chance you’ll be in any shape to properly care for anyone else, says Kass.
FAQs
Why is caregiving so exhausting?
Caregiving, especially while living with the care recipient, can be exhausting because of the demands on the caregiver’s time, energy, and compassion.
Making a loved one’s needs the focus of concentrated attention can easily lead the caregiver to neglect their own needs—including their need for restful sleep.
What are the symptoms of caregiver syndrome?
“If you are not able to get enough sleep over an extended time, you risk developing caregiver syndrome,” says Kass. “This condition occurs when significant physical and emotional stress arises from the responsibilities of caregiving.”
Kass says this stress can manifest through various symptoms, including:
- Isolating from friends and family
- Trouble sleeping, which heightens stress
- Difficulty processing thoughts, leading to a lack of focus and mistakes
- Increased anger and frustration
- Appetite loss and weight fluctuations
- Increased substance use
When should you stop being a caregiver?
According to Johns Hopkins Medicine, “Failing to practice self-care habits contributes to the stress caregivers feel and the problems they may experience with their own physical, mental, and emotional health. The likely outcome or consequence for a caregiver who is not taking care of him- or herself is burnout.”
Burnout is “a state of emotional exhaustion that results from failing, wearing out, or feeling totally used up due to too many demands on one’s energy, strength, or resources,” notes Johns Hopkins Medicine.
It can be caused by things like the emotional demands of the care recipient’s condition; conflicting demands on the caregiver’s attention and time; ambiguity of roles and responsibilities in relation to others; the work load; or a lack of privacy.
“When burnout reaches a critical level, it begins to be very evident in a caregiver’s life,” Johns Hopkins Medicine says. Burnout can manifest as depression; withdrawal; feelings of helplessness or hopelessness; negative emotions; physical fatigue; sleep deprivation or disorders; abuse or neglect of the care receiver; personal health problems; or lowered self-esteem.
If it gets to this extreme point, it’s important for the caregiver to prioritize their own physical and mental health needs because they could potentially be more harmful than helpful to their loved one.
How much time should it take for you to fall asleep once you get into bed? Here’s how long it should take to fall asleep at night.
