Caring for family members with dementia is on the rise, and it causes significant emotional and physical stress that increases caregivers’ risk of depression, anxiety and even death. 

Some new ways to cope include:

1. Recognizing a positive event each day
2. Savoring that positive event and logging it in a journal or telling someone about it
3. Starting a daily gratitude journal
4. Listing a personal strength each day and noting how you used this strength recently
5. Setting an attainable goal each day and noting your progress
6. Reporting a relatively minor stressor each day, then listing ways in which the event can be positively reappraised or reframed
7. Understanding small acts of kindness can have a big impact on positive emotion and practicing a small act of kindness each day
8. Practicing mindfulness through paying attention to daily experiences and with a daily 10-minute breathing exercise, concentrating on the breath

It’s important to learn how to focus on positive emotions that reduce anxiety and depression. And just six weeks, according to a new national Northwestern Medicine study, these help.  To learn more about this, click here.