If you have the diagnosis of a long term illness or chronic condition it can be incredibly difficult to live a normal life. We are all unique and a long-term illness or life-changing diagnosis is different for everybody. How do you feel about having the label of a diagnosis like that? Sometimes it can define you, leaving you feeling like a shadow of your former self, lost in your diagnosis.
The effects of a chronic condition.
Sometimes the injury or condition can last a lifetime, or it may go into remission – which means, in part, you can continue with life as it was before. But the threat that it will flare up again at some point remains and you don’t know when it might be or for how long.
Viewed from the outside, a long-term illness can look very different for everyone. Some people can continue to work, and people might think that person leads an ordinary life. Some people confine themselves to the home or their bed. It differs in severity but is still an illness and because people can’t see it; they don’t understand it and so often judge it.
Chronic conditions are often invisible.
When you have a chronic condition it can often feel like your illness is invisible and only you know how it feels inside. Only someone who is interested in listening to the problems you’re experiencing can properly appreciate your situation. It takes time and effort to understand about pain and chronic conditions.
In my experience, this is where a lot of the problems lie. I would see patients in my NHS clinics with long-term conditions who had seen lots of health-care professionals about the same problem. Often, they were repeatedly referred to the same service.
The expectation can be that long-term conditions or chronic pain will always be there.
Sometimes there might have been short-term relief from therapy, but not always. When you don’t feel you are seeing an improvement, it is difficult to continue with treatment- especially if you’re feeling demotivated or misunderstood. A common phrase I used to hear was: ‘They think it’s all in my head.’
There are also the unsaid thoughts of, ‘They think I’m not trying hard enough’ or, ‘It won’t work anyway. It didn’t last time’ or, ‘I’m only here because the doctor told me to come and I want to comply with health care, because I want to get better.’
I wonder if any of these comments resonate with you?
The clinic sessions aren’t usually long enough to hear all about your problems; and this is frustrating as it’s important to tell your story. To express how it feels and also how it presents in your body. To describe the limitations you face day to day, compared to life before the diagnosis.
Getting a diagnosis.
Others face a long wait to even get a diagnosis- even months or years. It can take a lot of searching and chasing up to get one. Then there are the feelings when you get one and what is offered to help you manage it doesn’t seem right. I’m sure you know that living with a long-term condition can affect your mood. It’s frustrating and can lead to depression and anxiety.
Having a chronic illness will inevitably affect family dynamics and relationships. The not knowing what the future holds and waiting for investigations and treatment. You don’t know what’s going on and your family doesn’t either.
This can naturally lead you to becoming isolated from your friends as you withdraw socially. Feelings of loneliness and anxiety creep in. The symptoms of your illness make it very difficult to engage in the activities you used to do.
Many people often feel this as a loss of the life they were living, like grief. Grieving for the life you once lived and grieving for the life you must now endure. As life continues with the chronic condition, individuals might experience feelings of denial, anger, and depression.
Therapy for chronic conditions.
Thinking about other therapies for chronic conditions led me down the path of psychotherapy, hypnotherapy, and the mind-body connection. I could see the need for therapy which treats ‘the whole of you.’ therapy which respects that you are the expert of your condition but exploring things in greater depth and learning different ways to accept the condition (not cure it). Using appropriate therapies to learn ways of managing and ultimately living a happier and healthier life. Developing an awareness of how, in the body, psychological events and physical sensations are so closely connected. Without this appreciation, we can get stuck in a viscous loop which I call ‘the cycle of suffering’.
As The Mind-Body Guide, my aim is to explore these connections to help you gain insight and awareness. This could look at present problems or those that are more deeply seated: events that have affected you in the past. Things that you have been told and experienced which have shaped who you are now.
My approach to therapy is to help you to understand yourself mentally and physically. Then, working together, we can plot your pathway to a healthier, happier life.
The Mind & Body Guide.
Therapy for the whole of you.
