The Secondary Patient - Caring For The Caregiver

Providing care for your loved one in chronic pain can be mentally, emotionally, physically and spiritually draining. Often times, caregivers are referred to as "the secondary patient." As chronic pain sufferers, we are completely unprepared for how our bodies, minds, emotions, responsibilities, careers, finances, and identified roles change seemingly overnight. Similarly, a chronic pain sufferer's family is unprepared for the destructive upheaval. Unfortunately, by the time the immense stress of care-giving begins to show, the care-giver is already at great risk for "serious adverse physical and mental health consequences from their physically and emotionally demanding work as caregivers and reduced attention to their own health and health care."

In fact, NIH published a study outlining the potential health hazards of care-giving. "Caregiver burden and strain have been related to the caregiver’s own poor health status, increased health-risk behaviors (such as smoking), and higher use of prescription drugs. Researchers have reported…