How does caregiving affect the health of the caregiver?

There is an actual condition called Caregiver Syndrome. Dr. Jean Posner, a neuropsychiatrist in Baltimore, M.D. describes it as "a debilitating condition brought on by unrelieved, constant caring for a person with a chronic illness or dementia."

There is a 63 percent higher chance of death for caregivers than non-caregivers. According to the American Alzheimer's Foundation, 60 percent of family caregivers die before the person they are caring for. Caregivers have chronic conditions twice the rate of others and 91 percent suffer from depression.

It is imperative that caregivers take care of themselves to prevent stress, which can be detrimental to health, burn out which will result in care recipient not receiving care and resentment. Some statistics from the National Family Caregivers association explains:

1. 23% of family caregivers caring for loved ones for 5 years or more report their health is fair or poor. Caregiving in the United States;
   National Alliance for Caregiving in collaboration with AARP; November 2009
2. Nearly three quarters (72%) of family caregivers report not going to the doctor as often as they should and 55% say they skip doctor appointments for themselves. 63% of caregivers report having poor eating habits than non-caregivers and 58% indicate worse exercise habits than before caregiving responsibilities. Evercare Study of Caregivers in Decline: A Close-Up Look at Health Risks of Caring for a Loved One. National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare. 2006.
3. 20% of employed female caregivers over 50 years old report symptoms of depression compared to 8% of their non-caregiving peers. MetLife Study of Working Caregivers and Employer Health Costs;
   National Alliance for Caregiving and MetLife Mature Market Institute. February 2010
4. 40% to 70% of family caregivers have clinically significant symptoms of depression with approximately a quarter to half of these caregivers meet the diagnostic criteria for major depression.Zarit, S. (2006). Assessment of Family Caregivers: A Research Perspective
5. More than 1 in 10 (11%) of family caregivers report that caregiving has caused their physical health to deteriorate. How Do Family Caregivers Fare? A Closer Look at their Experiences. Center on Aging Society. 2005.
6. A wife's hospitalization increased her husband's chances of dying within a month by 35%. A husband's hospitalization boosted his wife's mortality risk by 44%. Nicholas D. Christakis, Professor, Health-care Policy, Harvard Medical School, Boston and Suzanne
   Salamon, M.D., Associate Chief, Geriatric Psychiatry, Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital, Boston, New England Journal of Medicine, Feb. 16, 2006

For more, please visit the links below

http://www.caregiver.org/caregiver/jsp/content_node.jsp?nodeid=1822

http://www.nfcacares.org/who_are_family_caregivers/care_giving_statstics.cfm