Market reference guide: This article draws on materials from both Korea and the United States. Country-specific information is marked as 🇰🇷 Korea or 🇺🇸 U.S. in the text below.
Have you ever looked in the mirror and felt a stranger looking back at you? Your mind fills up with your parents' medication schedules, upcoming doctor's appointments, and meal preparations, while your own interests and dreams seem to have vanished somewhere. Many people who have spent years in the caregiver role experience this. This is not a matter of willpower or mindset. The role of caregiving is so large and heavy that your sense of self gradually becomes obscured within it.
🇺🇸 U.S. According to the 2025 "Caregiving in the U.S. 2025" report released by the National Alliance for Caregiving and AARP, one in four Americans is currently a family caregiver, a 45% increase compared to 2015. 🇺🇸 U.S. In the same AARP and S&P Global survey, 67% of caregivers reported difficulty balancing work and caregiving. As a result, 27% switched from full-time to part-time employment, and 16% have had experience taking a temporary leave from work. As work decreases, professional identity fades along with it.
🇰🇷 Korea Korea officially entered a post-aged society in December 2024, when the population aged 65 and over exceeded 20% of the total. It took just 26 years to transition from an aged society to a post-aged society—a pace unprecedented anywhere in the world. 🇰🇷 Korea As of 2024, the proportion of recipients of long-term care insurance for the elderly expanded to approximately 11.2% of the elderly population aged 65 and over. This means that the number of older adults requiring care has grown proportionally, and at the same time, the number of family caregivers spending long hours by their side is also increasing.
Psychology research has a name for this phenomenon: the experience of family caregivers losing their sense of identity within the caregiving role, and as social connections diminish, the very sense of 'who am I' becomes blurred. 🇺🇸 U.S. Research with family members of dementia patients showed that caregivers reported a deep connection between social isolation and loss of self-presence, and that social activities in which one can reveal oneself to others play an important role in preserving identity. One of the reasons caregiving is difficult is not only a lack of physical stamina or time, but also the sense of loss that comes from losing oneself.
🇺🇸 U.S. Research from Oregon State University confirmed that making incremental progress toward personal goals meaningfully reduces stress in caregivers' daily lives. Both spousal caregivers and adult child caregivers experienced lower stress on days when there was some progress toward health or social goals compared to days without such progress. This finding suggests that the goals need not be grandiose. Listening to your favorite music for 10 minutes today, sending a brief message to a friend you've been putting off—these small moments of existing as 'yourself' accumulate and become the strength to endure.
🇺🇸 U.S. In research analyzing the self-care experiences of Alzheimer's caregivers, hobby activities and boundary-setting were found to be helpful in stress management, identity preservation, and burnout prevention. At first, taking time for yourself may feel guilty. However, experienced caregivers often say this: 'To last longer, I must protect myself first.' This is not selfishness—it is wisdom for sustainable caregiving.
If there is something you want to do right now, commit to it even just once a week, no matter how small it may seem. One episode of a favorite drama, a walk, 30 minutes of an old hobby. Remembering yourself as a person before you are a 'caregiver'—that in the end leads to better care for your parents as well.
Source: National Alliance for Caregiving (NAC) and AARP, "Caregiving in the U.S. 2025"; AARP and S&P Global, "Working While Caregiving: It's Complicated" (2024); Turner & Hooker, "Does Personal Goal Pursuit Alleviate Family Caregiver Stress?", Innovation in Aging (2021); CareYouNews, "The Current State of Elderly Care in Six Countries Worldwide and Korea's Choice" (2026); Insurance Research Institute, "Current Status and Challenges of Elderly Care Services in Korea" (2023); Losing Personhood: Experiences of Individuals Caring for a Family Member with Dementia, PMC (2023); Balancing Caregiving and Self-Care: Exploring Mental Health Needs of Alzheimer's and Dementia Caregivers, arXiv (2025).
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.