Welcome to ACT taking hurt to hope. Today we are going to talk about the challenging side of caring for others who are at times acting out and acting aggressively towards the caregiver. Several recent studies have shown that caring for others provides resilience to the damaging effects of stress on the heart, for example. But there is also a dark side. This actually has a name

Caregiver syndrome or caregiver stress is a condition of exhaustion, anger, rage, or guilt that results from caring for a dependent who acts agressively towards the caregiver.. Almost 66 million Americans are providing care to those that are ill, aged, and/or disabled for an average of 39.2 hours per week. Caregiver syndrome is acute when caring for an individual with behavioral difficulties, Typical symptoms of the caregiver include: fatigue, insomnia, stomach complaints, and so on with the most common symptom being depression. Due to the deterioration (both physical and mental) of these caregivers, health professionals have given this a name, Caregiver Syndrome.

Our guest today is Dr Thomas Szabo. Thomas is the director of research and development at Easter Seals in Southern California.