Dealing with feelings and emotions Taking care of yourself "I
constantly worry about making mistakes. Then I get stressed and
end up making more mistakes. I’m going to bring it up at the
next self-help group meeting to see how other people manage."
(Fatima) "I am drinking more and more coffee and have started
smoking again. I don’t think it actually helps. I just seem to
do it. Sometimes I feel so stressed, I could scream." (Dave)
Dealing with stress As a carer or a person with dementia, you
may find yourself under considerable stress as you try to find
out information about the disease, envisage the future, organise
care and come to terms with your own fears and worries. As time
goes by, you may find yourself in situations that are unfamiliar
to you. Carers may become increasingly exhausted, both
emotionally and physically. People with dementia may also find
it exhausting as they try to make sense of a world which is
becoming increasingly unfamiliar and deal with a gradual loss of
capacity. For these reasons