Eventually, at some point in your life your health will start to deteriorate. It could be something sudden, like an injury, or slower, like a chronic disease. But, eventually, you’ll need to confront these issues.
Emotional responses to severe health problems can be overwhelming. You may feel a range of sensations going from grief to sadness to despair. You may also feel a sense of fear, knowing that you might not be able to continue enjoying some of the activities that you love.
Many people wind up feeling powerless too, especially if somebody else was to blame for their condition, according to https://www.chaffinluhana.com/. So finding coping strategies that work is essential. Here’s what to remember when your health takes a turn for the worse.
You Can Be Open to Your Feelings
When people get sick, they instinctively try to turn off their feelings to protect themselves. Unfortunately, unprocessed emotions usually don’t go away. Instead, they fester in the unconscious, and you have to work harder and harder to push them down.
Allowing yourself to feel after a serious health event is a big step in the right direction. If you give yourself a chance to experience your emotions, your grieving will progress and, hopefully, you’ll feel better in time.
You Can Allow Change to Happen
Serious illnesses are also scary for another reason: they force your life to change. We all get used to being young and healthy. But eventually, we become older and sicker. Wishing we could go back to those earlier days isn’t always mentally healthy.
A much better approach is to allow change to happen and go with the flow. No matter how much your capacity changes, you will always find opportunities to enjoy your life.
You Can Always Get Support
Going through a serious illness isn’t something you have to do by yourself. You can always reach out for support, according to https://www.helpguide.org/.
Remember, there are many people who’ve also had to deal with serious health issues in their lives. So reach out for the support that’s right for you. Sometimes, that will mean joining a group of people with similar issues. And other times, it means getting support from friends and family who have a keen listening ear.
You can also seek out something called a peer support program. Usually, disease-specific organizations provide these, connecting you with people who can offer practical advice.
You Don’t Have to Feel Stressed Out
Getting a severe health diagnosis can make you feel stressed. But you don’t have to experience it fully. There are many techniques that you can use to reduce stress, including taking up relaxation practices, getting enough sleep and being as active as you can.
Don’t underestimate the power of social connections either. Yes, the pandemic is making that difficult at the moment. But even having a once-a-week phone call with people can make all the difference in the world. Maintaining those social ties helps to relieve stress and may actually speed your recovery.
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