Sources for this article: This article draws on both Korean and American sources. Each piece of information is labeled in the text with 🇰🇷 Korea or 🇺🇸 U.S. to indicate which country it applies to.
When an elder repeats the same thing for the tenth time, when a parent refuses to eat, or when the feeling that no one is helping you comes crashing in — anger wells up. In that moment, many caregivers think to themselves, "Why am I acting this way? This person is ill." And after the anger comes the guilt. But there is one thing I want to say clearly first: feeling angry in a caregiving situation does not make you a bad person. It is a signal from a body and mind that have been carrying far too much for far too long.
🇺🇸 U.S. According to a survey conducted by A Place for Mom in 2025, 87% of family caregivers experienced stress and anxiety, and 84% felt overwhelmed. Emotions such as anger and sadness were reported by approximately 3 out of every 10 caregivers as something they experience repeatedly every week. The same survey also found that 78% of caregivers had experienced burnout, with many saying they feel it nearly every day. Anger is not an emotion that visits only certain kinds of people. It is something almost anyone carrying the weight of caregiving goes through.
🇰🇷 Korea A 2024 study by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (보건사회연구원) also identified isolation, worry, and anxiety — alongside fatigue and stress — as the dominant emotions experienced by those responsible for family caregiving. Caregiving is work that continuously depletes not only physical energy but emotional energy as well. When unexpressed emotions accumulate, it is a natural phenomenon for anger to erupt in response to even a minor trigger.
Anger does not necessarily lead to wrongdoing. What matters, however, is how that emotion is expressed. The first approach that mental health professionals commonly recommend is to "pause for a moment" when feelings reach their peak. Stepping away briefly, taking slow, steady breaths, washing your hands with cold water — the key is to create even a 1-to-2-minute gap between the trigger and your response. Intense anger tends to be shorter-lived than other emotions, so breaking its momentum even once often reduces its intensity significantly.
A second helpful practice is learning to name your emotions. Within the word "angry" there are in fact many different feelings mixed together. "I feel hurt because I'm exhausted," "I feel wronged because I'm not getting any help," "I'm scared that I'm not enough" — when you look at your emotions this specifically, vague anger gradually transforms into something more manageable. Not suppressing emotions, but seeing them clearly: this is an important emotional-management skill for preventing burnout.
🇺🇸 U.S. According to a report published in 2025 by AARP and the National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), approximately two-thirds of the roughly 63 million adult caregivers in the United States are experiencing moderate or greater emotional stress, and they spend an average of 22.8 hours per week on caregiving. 🇰🇷 Korea In Korea, the "장기요양 가족휴가제 (Long-Term Care Family Respite Program)" is being expanded within the long-term care insurance system, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare (보건복지부) continues in 2025 to advance support aimed at reducing the caregiving burden on families caring for severely eligible recipients or those with dementia. Making use of institutional support to catch your breath is also one way of managing your emotions.
You cannot prevent yourself from feeling angry. But how you meet that emotion can gradually change. Noticing that you are angry, pausing for a moment, naming the emotion, and if needed, opening up to someone close to you or a professional — as these small steps accumulate, emotions begin to feel less like waves crashing over you and more like traffic signals you can read. The very fact that you are still here, still showing up today, is already proof that you are a deeply devoted caregiver.
Sources: A Place for Mom, 2025 State of Caregiving Report / A Place for Mom, 2026 Caregiver Burnout and Stress Statistics (based on 2025 survey) / AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC), Caregiving in the US 2025 / Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs (한국보건사회연구원), Health and Social Welfare Review 44(2), 2024 / Psychiatry News (정신의학신문), columns on anger management / Ministry of Health and Welfare (보건복지부), 2025 long-term care insurance press release (October 2024).
Note: This article was compiled by AI from the sources cited above. We strive for accuracy, but for decisions about your specific situation, please confirm the latest guidance from a professional or the relevant agency.