Caring for yourself

When holding the responsibility of caring for someone, it can be hard to know how to take care of yourself. However, it is very important to try and care of yourself alongside your carer responsibilities, to minimise the chance of caregiver burnout.

Below we offer some ways to try and care for yourself while also caring for someone with a brain injury.

Maintaining interests and social life

It can be very difficult to combine an active social life with the demands of being a carer. This can mean that you lose contact with old friends and, when that happens, it can be difficult to re-establish friendships.

It is important to remember that maintaining friendships is a vital part of a healthy and happy life. Friends can be an important source of emotional support as well as providing an opportunity to get away from the demands of home life for a while, all of which can help you to look after yourself and your loved one more effectively.

You may find that attending support groups such as your local Headway allows you to meet other carers in similar situations who you can form friendships with.

It is also important to maintain your hobbies and interests, both those that involve social interaction and also solitary pursuits such as music, reading, watching films, etc. This may seem obvious, but it is easy to let the demands of caring dominate your life. Making time for activities that make you happy can make all the difference to your quality of life.

Staying healthy

Being a carer can be stressful and time consuming and it can be easy to let yourself stop making the effort to eat healthily and engage in exercise. However, being fit and healthy helps you to deal with stress and cope better with everyday life.

Maintaining a healthy lifestyle can counter the negative effects of stress and improve your sense of wellbeing and quality of life. Try to take time to do whatever forms of exercise you enjoy and make the effort to eat a healthy, balanced diet. It is also important to remember to see your GP with any health concerns.

You can find information on exercise and healthy eating on the NHS website.

Taking a break from caring

It is important to take a break from caring on occasion in order to rest and have some time to yourself. Provision and funding for respite care should be made in your loved one’s care package and any services provided by your own carer’s assessment (more information on this is available on Help for carers). 

There are a number of options available for respite care:

• Many residential and nursing care homes can provide short-term care for a brain injury survivor.

• Headway groups and other day services can provide respite care for a few hours a week.

• There are many providers of holidays for disabled people, which provide a break for both your loved one and yourself.

• It is often possible to arrange home support for your loved one in order to go away on holiday yourself.

Some social services departments operate voucher schemes to provide respite care. You can also use direct payments to pay for respite care.

Carer support groups

Often the best source of support is other carers in a similar situation to yourself.

Many of Headway’s local services provide support group meetings and one-to-one support for carers. These services are particularly helpful as they provide peer support from others in similar situations.

If you are not able to attend a local Headway, you can find support from other carers through our online communities.

Specialist carers’ organisations, such as Carers UK or Carers Trust, offer support groups and services in many areas of the UK. Your local council should be able to signpost to other local groups.

Find out about your rights and entitlements

As a carer, you may be entitled to support through benefits or schemes. You can find out more about these on Help for carers.

The organisations listed on this page are provided for information purposes only. Their inclusion does not imply endorsement, recommendation, or approval by Headway. Users should make their own assessment of any organisation or service before engaging with them.