Effects on Caregiver
The caregiver of a person with Huntington’s Disease may face many challenges while caring for their loved one. First off, they may have feelings of fear and face burdens, stress, and morbidity for their loved one with Huntington’s Disease. They also may feel hopeless and stress that Huntington’s Disease will develop in more family members as they get older. They will also get more irritability with less patience and may even get more aggressive because their loved one is getting more aggressive and hostile resulting in an increase in family arguments and fights due to the disease.
The caregiver also may start feeling like they are alone resulting in depression and anxiety. Caring for a person with Huntington’s Disease is very exhausting because as it progresses they start to need help with more everyday routines. The person caring for them may start to feel fatigued quite often which may also results in them having to step back from many of their commitments in life. For example, one in the work force may have to go from full time to part time or work from home if they continue to care for them. If in school, they may have to quit, go to part-time enrollment, or even just take online classes for their degree.