Caregiver health is a topic overlooked by most, including the caregiver. Although this is the case, addressing caregiver health needs is vital to the caregiver’s health and ability to care for a loved one.
The tendency to push one’s own health needs to the bottom of a priority list is especially present among dementia caregivers. When caregivers do not prioritize their own health needs, negative thoughts and habits can form due to the daily stress caregiving can place on their lives.
James L. West Center for Dementia Care is committed to educating caregivers in all areas of life to enhance their ability to care for a loved one. James L. West offers a free video series for caregivers struggling with negative thoughts and habits called “Changing Your Thinking.”
What does it mean to “Change Your Thinking?”
An important aspect of dementia caregiver health is the mindset that they uphold on a daily basis. Caregiving can place both mental and physical stress on a person. Although it is common for caregivers to find themselves thinking negatively, no person should be in this type of thought pattern permanently.
Negative thoughts and habits that develop while caregiving can be broken with a simple mindset change. By being cognitively aware of your negative patterns and how they affect your emotions and actions, you can recognize and eliminate a negative pattern before it even begins.
“Changing Your Thinking” is an essential tool for caregivers facing emotional stress and burnout. Altering your mindset can renew your passion for helping others in a time of need and improve overall caregiver health.
Distortions in Thinking
Dementia caregivers often develop patterns of thought called distortions in thinking. Distortions in thinking are patterns of thought that cause you to view reality inaccurately; usually from a negative perspective.
Distortions in thinking can turn your thoughts in twisted ways by changing your perception to be one-sided, inaccurate, unfair, false, or even bitter. Stemming from changes in perception, a person can experience and develop depression, anxiety, self-criticism, low self-esteem, or hopelessness.
James L. West’s educational series covers several distortions in thinking common among Dementia caregivers.
- Emotional Reasoning is a cognitive process by which you conclude that your emotional reaction proves something is true, despite contrary evidence.
- Jumping to Conclusions is a negative thinking pattern where you judge something without having all the facts.
- Labeling is a cognitive distortion where you generalize by taking one characteristic (or behavior) of a person and applying it to the entirety, or the whole, person.
- Discounting the Positive is where you turn positive or neutral experiences into negative ones or you reject positive or neutral experiences, insisting that they don’t count.
- Should Statements occur when you tell yourself that things “should” or “should not” be the way you expected them to be. These types of statements generate a pessimistic view of the situation or world.
- Personalizing occurs when you assume the blame and guilt for things that go wrong outside of your control.
- Blame is created when you do not take responsibility for yourself, but rather shift the blame onto others.
- Mental Filters occur when you pick out one thing that goes wrong in a situation and discard all things that go well, honing in only on the negative
- Overgeneralization is defined as, “a mental skewing wherein a person sees a sole occurrence as an invariable rule.”
- All or Nothing thinking patterns are polarized thoughts that cause the habit of thinking in extremes.
- Magnification and minimization are patterns that involve either exaggerating or minimizing the meaning, importance, or likelihood of things.
Challenging Unhealthy Thoughts in Caregiving
Unhealthy thinking patterns can derail your ability to care for your loved one, but there is a silver lining. You have the power to change your thoughts!
Challenging unhealthy thoughts in caregiving begins with recognizing and acknowledging your negative thought patterns. Explore unique methods to combat negative distortions in thinking common among Dementia caregivers with James L. West’s educational “Changing Your Thinking” series.
Remember to treat yourself with compassion. Identify positive traits about yourself that you can keep in mind when a negative thought might pop into your mind. This will force you to choose a more positive new thought.
In a more deliberate sense, James L. West’s education team suggests slowing down and asking yourself questions relevant to discovering the facts of the situation. Write down these facts as well as any good things (big or small) that happened within the event. This will help you maintain a more positive mindset when challenging your thoughts.
Lastly, recognize that the behavior, reaction, circumstance, incident or trait is the “problem,” not you or the people involved. When you identify the real “problem” at hand, you can uncover truths about the situation and not push blame.
Change Your Thinking with JLW
You can find the “Change Your Thinking” programs here. Explore upcoming virtual or in-person caregiver education sessions on our education calendar.
The James L. West Center for Dementia Care is a faith-inspired, not-for-profit organization serving persons impacted by dementia. As a trusted expert, we provide personalized, innovative care and support for families and specialized education for caregivers, healthcare professionals, and the community at-large.
Connect with us at 817-877-1199; caregiver@jameslwest.org; or stop by our building at 1111 Summit Ave., Fort Worth, TX 76102.
