You might be a family caregiver and not even know it. Furthermore, you may not even realize how taxing it is, how it might be impacting your overall well-being.
According to an AARP/National Alliance of Caregiving survey, there are an estimated 43.5 million adults in the United States providing unpaid care to a loved one. Of those, only 18.2% reported being caregivers. Only about half of the caregivers surveyed said that there was another family or unpaid caregiver also helping out (those least likely to have any backup were spousal caregivers).
Half of the caregivers in that survey said that they felt they had no choice in taking on the role of family caregiver and often fell increased stress and strain.