Caregiver Burnout: You're Not the Only One

I snapped today. …

But it's mixed with this… emptiness. …

But I'm doing double shifts all the time. …

It’s the small stuff that just piles up like junk mail. …

That tremor, Parkinson's, it wears her out. …

It just feels… sticky. …

" because everyone's got their own thing, their own farm or shop or kids of their own that are just as much of a handful, and it feels like we're just stuck in this endless loop of crying and… …

I’m just watching her sleep and she looks so peaceful and I know she needs it but he’s still crying and I just want to… not hear it for five minutes and I hate myself for even thinking that and it… …

Does anyone else just kinda… stare at their sleeping spouse and feel this mix of like, total relief that they’re finally out, but also this weird kinda… guilt? …

it's not even about the guilt anymore not really it's about the exhaustion the kind that settles in your bones and makes every movement an effort a monumental task i used to lift weights i ran half… …

And I just cleaned the kitchen yesterday, and I feel like such a failure because I can't even keep up with basic household chores, and it’s not fair to [child's name] because they deserve a clean… …

I just got home, it's almost 2 AM, and I missed my bus stop again. …

god I'm so tired you know I'm sitting here staring at a pile of dishes in the sink that feels like it goes all the way to the ceiling and I just can't bring myself to move not a muscle you know the… …

I slept eight hours last night and still feel this profound exhaustion, like a physical weight settling in my bones — the kind that makes you wonder if it's the 400 miles between me and Mom, or just… …

I'm sitting here and it's 2am and the sink is overflowing with dishes and I'm just staring at them and my brain seems to have completely ceased its executive function capability but also it’s running… …

Full-on rage. …

I've been thinking about something for… well, decades now. …

I woke up again this morning and the clock said eight hours had gone by, but my body felt like it had been wading through concrete all night, like every muscle was still heavy with whatever dream I’d… …

losing it? …

The dysphoria, I suppose, is a different animal when it's your own child exhibiting it, a kind of inverse reflection—a dementia-induced apathy mirrored in her caregiver's exhaustion. …