Dear Friends
Dealing with 'Caregiver's Guilt'
Week of April 25, 2016
Prayer Requests
Dear Friends:
You're not alone, dear caregiver, if you feel guilty about the job you're doing helping your loved one. I would bet that every caregiver feels that way sometimes. And a sizable percentage do almost all the time.
I recently checked the statistics for our website and wasn't surprised that caregiver guilt is among the most-viewed topics. It always has been.
This is how that topic begins:
The problem with guilt is that sometimes we deserve it. And
we know it. We can't cast the first stone. We make mistakes,
we hurt people, we're lazy or arrogant or selfish and we feel
bad about that.
And rightly so.
Guilt -- that pang of conscience, that ache of remorse -- can
goad us into being better people. In the same way that a body
uses pain to signal an injury that needs attending, the
conscience can send a message of guilt that forces us to examine
our actions; guilt forces us to consider what we have done and
what we have failed to do.
All too frequently for a caregiver helping a loved one, that
guilt alarm never stops ringing. That examination of conscience
becomes perpetual. The feelings of frustration and inadequacy
and doubt never cease.
Sometimes it helps to realize that no matter what you do --
no matter how much or how little -- the guilt is likely to be
there.
You can read more here. And find the list of Topics here.
- - -
This week we're so pleased to welcome Katherine O. and Joyce A. from Florida, LuAnn G. from Iowa, and Mary P. from Pennsylvania as the newest members of the Friends of St. John the Caregiver. Please keep them and their intentions in your prayers. They have promised to pray for you and yours.
And again this week we cordially invite you to join the Friends of St. John the Caregiver! (FSJC's programs include YourAgingParent.com and CatholicCaregivers.com.) You can find out more about becoming a member here.
No meetings, no dues. All we ask is that you pray for caregivers and those receiving care. Our members include caregivers, care-receivers, and those who support both (including quite a few former caregivers).
You can:
sign up on-line here
or call us toll-free at 1-800-392-JOHN (5646)
or
print and mail an application form.
God bless you!
Bill