Kim is a corporate social worker at Surplus Care and Wellness. She wrote a blog for us! “Mental well-being is the central pillar in my work as a corporate social worker at Surplus. Every day I talk to people who are no longer comfortable in their own skin. They experience stress, tension, overwork or pressure. Fatigue, concentration and memory problems and irritability also join in. A common cause is a great sense of responsibility. Informal caregivers want to do well for another person and forget about themselves in the process. Indicating boundaries is difficult or more often: where is my boundary to be found? Taking good care of another is seen by many informal caregivers as essential, a part of the personality, or a norm?
So what? Sometimes people get stuck...
Sharing thoughts can provide relief, clarification or overview. Looking together at how to better indicate boundaries and who or what could take over the care. The goal then becomes, ‘How can I minimize the balls I keep in the air? We try to reduce the burden of carrying and energy use.
But what about the carrying capacity? I always ask the question, ‘What gives you energy? It is very important to put energy into something in order to then be able to get positive energy out of it. What makes you happy? The trick here is to think small. What the answer is is different for everyone. Some family caregivers want to relax, but feel guilty. The person they care for is sometimes already often alone, and cannot leave home due to a need for help. Corporate social work thinks with them in such cases!
Personally, I went through a busy period. For years I combined a second study with part-time work. Now that my studies are finished and I look back, I think, ‘How on earth did I manage this? Writing this blog got me thinking about this. My answer: doing lots of (little) things that excite me. I immensely enjoy reading books and watching series related to the Fantasy genre. I have an extensive and beautifully decorated bookcase, collect all kinds of merchandise of series, go to Comic Con events to take pictures with actors and make creative things like dolls of my favorite characters. These are all things that I can, generally, spend time on at a time of my own choosing. Just something to be totally absorbed my own world and recharge for a while. For me, this is self-care. This is what works for me.
Hopefully this blog will also inspire you to answer the question, “What is your little moment of happiness?”
