Caregiving for older people can be complicated especially when it's done through long distance caring. The guilt of not being around for aged parents can be overwhelming at times and the feeling of helplessness can become overbearing.
When it comes to caregiving on a full time basis, it is a different rainbow. Long distance caring has a different set of issues but then full time means 24*7 responsibility.
Mental and physical stress can at times become more than the actual caregiving needs, but then, the job profile of a caregiver is like a frog in the well. After a point the caregiver starts losing track of his or her own life and eventually all that matters is the well-being of the person they are caring for.
When the pressure of caring becomes too much, it is natural for the emotional volcano to burst, which probably happens more often than we read in the newspapers. The pressure cooker of caregiving keeps letting out the steam and whistle to suggest that it's time to shut off but if left unchecked for too long then it is natural for it to burst.
Being dependent upon others especially in our old age is not a movie which always ends with a happy ending, it has its own challenges and serious implications.
As a nation, if we do not develop multiple practical solutions for Loneliness, Isolation, Dependency for the Aged, then we will have a major crisis within families, neighborhood and social welfare systems, because as per projections there is going to be one in five people who will be above the age of 60.
Pankaj Mehrotra
