How Can You Tell if Your Elderly Loved One is Stressed?

How Can You Tell if Your Elderly Loved One is Stressed?

 February 18, 2021

Home Care in South Side PA: Senior Stress

Life is different these days than it was back when your elderly loved one was a kid.

Yes, people didn’t make as much money back then, but life was simpler in so many ways. Nowadays, your elderly loved one might need you and senior care providers to take care of them a lot of the time. When doing so, it is important to recognize if your elderly loved one is feeling stressed. Stress can cause a lot of other issues such as fast heart rate, inflammation in the body, sleep issues, and more. Recognizing the signs of stress in your elderly loved one can help you and their senior care providers to find stress-relief solutions for them.

Worrying All the Time

When you are talking to or spending time with your elderly loved one, are they telling you things they worry about? While this is a normal response for humans, if your elderly loved one is doing this a lot of the time, it could mean they are very stressed. With all of these worries, your elderly loved one might have a difficult time finding solutions. You and their senior care providers should listen closely to what they are saying and then help to find appropriate solutions.

Increasingly Irritable

Has your elderly loved one been increasingly irritable? Maybe you were talking to them like you normally do and they just started yelling at you. Another example might be that their senior care provider might have been trying to help with laundry as they do every week. Then, your elderly loved one got frustrated because it wasn’t how they wanted it to be. If your elderly loved one is getting increasingly irritable, you should try figuring out why this is happening. It could be due to high levels of stress. If that is the case, you should do what you can get help them overcome the stressful situation, so they can feel better and be less irritable.

Digestion Problems

When some elderly people are stressed, they start experiencing digestion problems. This could show up as constipation, diarrhea, stomach cramps, or abdominal pains. If your elderly loved one is all of a sudden experiencing these issues and there doesn’t seem to be another reason for it, you should talk to them. You might find that they are stressed about something or multiple things. If this is the cause, you and their senior care providers can help them to solve those problems, so they can get their digestive health back under control.

Conclusion

These are some of the ways that you can tell if your elderly loved one is stressed. Stress is a normal human response. However, if it is affecting your elderly loved one in these ways or in other negative ways, you and their senior care providers should do what you can to help them overcome or better manage their stress.

If you or an aging loved-one are considering hiring Home Care in South Side, PA, please contact the caring staff at In-Home Quality Care today. Serving the Greater Pittsburgh Area since 1990! Call 412-421-5202

Sources
https://www.cdc.gov/aging/pdf/mental_health.pdf