How Do You Take Care Of A Difficult Elderly Parent?
Taking care of an elderly parent is challenging on many levels. Adult children are confronted with emotions from the past, which are compounded by issues in the present. While there are no one-size-fits-all solutions, some guidelines may help preserve one’s sanity in the midst of complex turmoil. Take care of your own physical well-being. In order to bring your best — however that may be defined — to a radical shift in relationship with your parent, you need to be able to draw on your reserves of physical health. Often, care-giving children sacrifice their own well-being to tend to the pressing and changing needs and demands of a difficult parent. The emotions alone are exhausting. Such sacrifice serves no good purpose. See your family doctor. Get a physical and follow doctor’s orders. Tell your doctor your situation. Doctors are storehouses of resources for every life situation. Let your doctor guide you. Take care of your spiritual needs as well. If you are a member of a church or
