When someone you love is injured, your world can change too.

Beyond the trauma of being at the bedside, you may suddenly find yourself helping with appointments, medications, transportation, meals, household responsibilities, communication with healthcare providers, finances, work, children, or daily activities. You may be learning things you never expected to learn while also trying to support someone you love through a difficult and uncertain time.

There is no single caregiving experience. In the hospital, you may be focused on understanding what happened and making decisions one day at a time. During rehabilitation, you may be helping with appointments, exercises, transportation, or new routines. After returning home, responsibilities may shift again as your loved one regains independence, adapts to lasting changes, or learns how to manage life after injury. Sometimes the person you love may need less hands on assistance but more emotional support. In other situations, physical or cognitive changes may mean that caregiving responsibilities continue for months or years.

You may not think of yourself as a caregiver. You may simply think, “I am their spouse,” “I am their parent,” “I am their child,” “I am their partner,” or “I am their friend.” Whatever word you use, supporting someone through recovery can be demanding. And caring for yourself is not something you have to earn after everyone else’s needs have been met.

Research involving family caregivers consistently shows that caregiving can affect stress, mental health, physical health, quality of life, and overall well being. Research specific to traumatic brain injury has also found high rates of fatigue, anxiety, depression, burnout, and reduced well being among family caregivers. That is why caregiver support matters throughout the recovery journey, not only during a crisis.

The phrase “self care” can sometimes sound unrealistic when you are exhausted and responsible for someone else’s needs. Self care does not have to mean a spa day, a weekend away, or adding another task to your already full schedule. Sometimes self care looks like sleeping while someone else sits with your loved one. Sometimes it means eating lunch instead of realizing at 4 p.m. that you have not eaten all day. Sometimes it means asking someone else to make the phone call, drive to the appointment, pick up groceries, or handle dinner.

And sometimes self care means recognizing that you are struggling and talking with someone about it. A useful way to think about self care is not as something extra, but as support for the person doing the supporting.