"I can't go on. I'll go on": Caregiving in the Age of Coronavirus

Samuel Beckett wrote this in his book, The Unnameable, and it is a notion that anyone experiencing this pandemic—but especially caregivers—can relate to.

In all three cases, the caregiving spouses, who had been living in quarantine for over three months, forgoing any outings or external help, were close to “the edge.” Was this the breaking point?

Perhaps yes and no.

A caregiver, whatever their circumstances, likely feels they have reached their limit multiple times in any given day.

With no alternative, how does one move from “I can’t go on.” To “I’ll go on.”?

There are a host of things that don’t help, like feeding negative emotions, drinking, running away, or focusing on the things that are beyond their control.

A useful question to ask is “where is there space to do something different?”

Here are additional posts on caregiving that may have some use:

When there's a pack of dogs chasing you in your dreams every night, it might be an indicator of severe caregiver burnout. It's time to care for the caregiver.

CS Lewis wrote, "One never meets just Cancer, or War, or Unhappiness (or Happiness). One only meets each hour or moment that comes. All manner of ups and downs. Many bad spots in our best times, many good ones in our worst."

https://www.wral.com/know-yourself-wisdom-practices-that-can-help-you-weather-the-crises-that-come-with-aging/18389166/

A daily mindfulness practice is associated with decreased anxiety and depression, improved management of chronic pain (especially for those for whom nothing else has worked), Improved cardiovascular health, lower blood pressure, improved emotion regulation and many other benefits.

What does getting a call from Jay Leno and witnessing a man drive through a Verizon storefront up to the customer service counter have to teach us?