Caregivers need to take care of themselves, too

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — For Jessica Renda, the breaking point was a particularly chaotic Christmas season. Consumed by her eldest daughter’s mental and behavioral health struggles, she stopped exercising or doing anything else that brought her joy. Forget holiday magic, she was barely hanging on.“After that, I was like, ‘I really need to take care of myself,’” she said. “We always tell people that old cliché: It’s like the oxygen mask on a plane. But it’s really true. You can’t be a successful or good caregiver to somebody else if you’re not taking care of yourself.”Renda leads a support group for parents and caregivers for the New Hampshire chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, where she vigorously promotes self-care. And she’s gotten better at taking her own advice, finding time for herself and setting better boundaries.“It’s not easy,” she said. “I joke sometimes, ‘Is 10 minutes in the shower crying self-care?’ Sometimes it is.”Caregivers are growing in numberNearly one i