If you are the primary caregiver for a loved one with cancer, dementia, stroke damage or some other serious illness or disability, you naturally want to do everything you can for that person. But it’s critically important that you not forget the other person who needs your attention just as desperately—you.

The reason: Half of primary caregivers suffer at least as much stress, loneliness and clinical depression as the ill loved ones they’re caring for. Even worse, compared with non-caregivers, primary caregivers have a 63% higher risk of dying!

But it is possible to take care of yourself while taking care of someone else—and we’ve consulted top psychiatrists, oncologists, gerontologists, integrative health practitioners and other experts to help you do it. For instance, here is a road map for coping with the eight stages of caregiving…a unique way to communicate with a person who has dementia by tapping into a kind of “memory” these patients never lose…a simple massage technique that will ease your loved one’s pain and anxiety and make you feel good, too…a surprising do-it-together “therapy” from your own kitchen…and a wealth of other ways to help both you and your loved one be healthier and happier.

How to Make Caregiving Much Easier

Health Hazards of Caregiving

Caregivers: Protect Your Own Health While Giving the Best Possible Care to a Loved One

Passages of Caregiving and the Strategies for Coping

Supporting Partners of Cancer Patients

How to Hire a Home Health Aide

Finally…There’s a Way to Connect with a Loved One Who Has Dementia

Music and Cooking Help Behavioral Problems in Alzheimer’s Patients…and Ease Stress for Caregivers, Too

Caregiving When a Loved One Has Dementia

Kirtan Kriya Meditation: 12-Minute Brain Boost for Stressed-Out People

Massage: The Best Gift for a Loved One with Cancer

Sweet Side of Caregiving