El autocuidado del cuidador

Abstract

Nurses (and specially women) are used to care the others (but not to be cared), we are used to help other people (but not to receive help). This might be one of the reasons why we do not usually ask for help if we have any health problem (above all, if it is a mental health problem). Besides, the characteristics where we develop our work are factors that, by themselves, causes stress. If we add to these factors the ones related to the act of caring people itself, the increases of the stress levels might be so huge that it overwhelms the person’s capacity to cope with it, and it might produce health problems. To eradicate stress may not be realistic; however, providing nurses strategies to cope with it might be a reachable objective. Thus, it seems necessary to have a proactive attitude to care health professionals, developing learning courses and other kind of initiatives that prevent mental illnesses (and, therefore, the physical ones).