Overloaded, Exhausted, and Ready for a Reset: 3 Doctors Give Their Best Advice

138 snips

Jul 14, 2025

Guest

Rangan Chatterjee

Guest

Pooja Lakshmin

In this insightful discussion, Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, a psychiatrist and bestselling author, emphasizes the importance of setting guilt-free boundaries for reclaiming control in chaotic lives. Dr. Rangan Chatterjee shares his personal caregiver journey, illustrating how such experiences can transform one's perspective on life and relationships. Together, they explore the chronic stress of caregiving, offer practical tools for self-care, and encourage listeners to prioritize their own well-being without guilt, highlighting that it's essential to find one's identity amid overwhelming responsibilities.

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INSIGHT

Caregiver Syndrome Explained

Caregiver syndrome is a unique chronic stress impacting health, mood, and relationships.
It involves loneliness, relentless demands, and reshaped relationships that differ from typical stress.

INSIGHT

Parenting Stress Impacts All

Nearly half of parents feel overwhelmed and lonely, with many experiencing burnout.
Parental stress negatively affects both caregiver and child's future health.

ADVICE

Start Small with Boundaries

Start small when setting boundaries: pause to drink water or eat properly.
Regular mini-breaks build agency and reduce guilt, improving caregiver well-being.

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If you’re exhausted, barely keeping it together, and quietly wondering when you’ll feel like yourself again… this episode is your lifeline.

Maybe you’re the one who keeps the house running.

The one everyone calls in an emergency.

The one who knows takes care of everyone including medications, the bills, doctor visits, and the schedules.

The one who stays up late searching for answers, and gets up early to make sure everyone else is okay.

You don’t complain.

You don’t slow down.

But you’re running on fumes. And no one sees it.

You feel invisible.

Like you are losing yourself.

Like you’re going through the motions in a life that used to feel like yours.

Mel is talking to you in this episode.

Whether you’re raising kids, managing a household, supporting aging parents, a sick family member, or all of the above, taking care of others can slowly wear you down and make you feel like you don’t even know yourself anymore.

In this powerful and deeply validating conversation, Mel sits down with three world-renowned experts, all of whom are doctors as well as caregivers, to give you the truth, the tools, and the hope you need to finally come up for air.

You’ll hear from:

-Dr. Aditi Nerurkar, Harvard physician and stress researcher, on why chronic caregiving stress is not your failure, it’s a public health crisis

-Dr. Pooja Lakshmin, psychiatrist and bestselling author, who’ll teach you how to set guilt-free boundaries and reclaim a sense of control over your life

-Dr. Rangan Chatterjee, physician and bestselling author, whose deeply personal story will show you how to stop disappearing into caregiving, and start living again

This episode is not about pushing harder. It’s about finally pulling back in a way that actually helps.

You are not alone.

You are not failing.

And you are not here to disappear.

So press play, and let this episode take care of you for once.

For more resources, click here for the podcast episode page.

If you liked the episode, you’ll love the full episodes with each of the doctors interviewed today:

Dr. Aditi Nerurkar: If You Struggle With Stress & Anxiety, This Will Change Your Life

Dr. Pooja Lakshmin: Focus on Yourself: 3 Signs You’re Giving Too Much & What to Do About It Right Now

Dr. Rangan Chatterjee: Change Your Body & Your Life in 1 Month: 4 Small Habits That Actually Work

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