Coping up with stress for the parents of children with autism
Not only the child with Autism needs constant care and help, but the families and parents of children with autism may also need extra help. The parents of a child with autism may live under lot of stress. They have to work harder and while doing so they might be neglecting their own health, both physical and mental. There can be guilt, anger, and frustration. All this may add up to their troubles. Parents of a child with autism often worry that they could or should do something extra to overcome and prevent their child's problems. There can be a feeling of anger in them about their circumstances. Frustration can creep in when they think that they are different from other parents and they can't enjoy family life and can neither indulge in the ordinary activities as easily. All this tends to make day-to-day coping even harder.
Normal stress is inevitable and as long as one gets proper sleep and appetite, stress does not prove to be overwhelming.
But if one finds it hard to eat, sleep and get up in the morning, then that stress can impede normal functioning of a person. If a day's activities become difficult to perform, if one feels over exhausted on a regular basis, one might then require help to overcome stress to manage stress. If not managed properly, stress would act like a big hurdle in figuring out coping skills with autism of the child.
If the parents are always sad and depressed they would not be able to give a positive environment to their child and the child would in turn keep on feeling discontented all the time. In the presence of stress one would not able to strategize about the actions that have to be taken for the future of child.
Counselors, psychologists and social workers can help parents of the child with autism. These parents require concrete ideas and also should find space for themselves. Attitudinal changes must be brought about. They require finding out to means to work on their own feelings so that their stress level gets reduced. Appropriate ways must be found out to so that they may let out their pent up anger and frustration. They have to find time alone with each other, may be on weekends. Sex is a great stress buster. It would help in strengthening their marital bond as these parents needed to be connected with each other in raising a child with autism more than anybody else.
