“It is a very important problem (the care of older adults) especially because I believe that in Hispanic culture there is a tradition of keeping the family together, so parents, grandparents, etc. They rather stay at home.
“For example, they don’t leave a nursing home or, as is more common in other populations, then there is the situation that one of the adult children, who is usually a woman, takes care of the elderly people who need help.
“There are older people who do not need help, but there are people who do need help, so what we call ‘burn out’ is very common in which people who are taking care of their parents come to a time when they suffer from tension, problems physical symptoms, headaches, their digestion is not good, they do not sleep well, they feel that they are not doing well, they feel that they have to do things better and when they don’t they get frustrated.
The speaker is Dr. Marcos Fe-Bornstein, psychiatrist at Well Cornel Medicine.
According to Dr. Fe-Bornstein, most Hispanics suffer from anxiety and depression and should learn from their symptoms.
“Now there are bilingual explanations in many institutions that will tell you what the symptoms are.”
These are the recommendations to Combat ‘Burn Out’ or Mental Exhaustion:
Maintain a reasonable sleep schedule
Eat healthy and cook your food
Avoid the use of alcohol or drugs
Have a support group to share your experiences
Take breaks during the day
“Having time to relax is one of the greatest opportunities one has to reduce stress,” added the doctor.
-This is a month in which there is a lot of awareness, many events are held so that people understand the importance of taking care of their mental health, however, we still have that taboo in our community of not going to a psychologist, of not going to a psychiatrist
-Can you talk to us about how we should also as a community, perhaps clear up that doubt a little of ‘oh, I shouldn’t go to a psychologist’?
“Many times in our communities we see it as a weakness, it is not that we are not strong. We have to see it as an illness, something that afflicts us because a mental illness has more than one aspect when we say mental, we are actually saying biological , psychological and environmental. There are three things that are failing and that is one of the deepest reasons why you have to seek help,” said the doctor.
“Make an appointment, talk to your therapist, if necessary, talk to the psychiatrist, they are not going to tell you anything bad, everything you can learn is going to help you,” concluded the doctor.
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