Emotional Autoimmunity: Dealing with the emotional issues of chronic illness
Chronic illness completely changes your life but nobody talks about or even acknowledges all of the emotional issues that come with it and I'm on a mission to change that. As a therapist living with four autoimmune diseases, I know exactly what the issues are and more importantly, how to overcome them. From medical gaslighting, dealing with grief and all of the 'what if' thoughts that keep you awake at night, let's talk about the emotional issues of chronic illness and what you can do to help yourself.
Episodes
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Of all the emotional issues that come with chronic illness, the most painful and most damaging is shame.
While guilt is about something we have done, shame is about who we are and all of the ways we feel that we are bad, wrong, weak, lacking or 'less than' that make us so very different to everyone else.
Especially when we compare ourselves to others who have our illness and who seem t...
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I asked my email and social media communities a while back to ask me anything about the experience of chronic illness that they were struggling with to see if I could help and in this episode, I am back with part 2.
I was planning to answer three questions this time but unfortunately, I was running out of energy towards the end of recording and had to leave the last one for now.
I will circle ...
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By far, the biggest and most upsetting issue for those of us living with chronic illness is not being believed.
From Doctors, family, friends and even total strangers on the internet, there are so many people full of scepticism, unsolicited advice and downright disbelief.
But how do you deal with the questions and comments like:
- It's all in your head.
- Why are you still so sick?
- There mus...
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The emotional and psychological impacts of becoming chronically ill so often go unrecognised, misunderstood belittled or simply ignored.
Which means that when it happens to you, you have no idea if the grief, fear, overwhelm and exhaustion that you feel are normal or that maybe, it is all in your head after all.
A big part of my work is to normalise and validate the often complex emotions that ...
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Most of my new clients with chronic illness are starting from a place of complete overwhelm and feeling like they are sitting in the wreckage of their lives and wondering, 'where do I even start to deal with this?'
So let's talk about overcoming that overwhelm and finding ways to help yourself take back some sense of direction and control.
In this episode whic...
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Chronic illness changes every aspect of your life and a large part of that is figuring out ways to best manage your symptoms and protect your energy.
The biggest problem is though that other people can get in the way of that.
Whether it's Doctors not supporting the treatment options you want, friends or family criticising or judging the changes you are making or having...
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After a while, most people who live with chronic illness give up trying to talk about what it's like and how it feels, because people don't seem to understand.
Especially as time goes on and those around you don't see you 'getting better' and can't seem to grasp what 'chronic' actually means.
Often, when you do try to explain and seek...
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In this episode I answer questions from my chronic illness community including:
Can you speak to the cost of the unique stressors in chronic illness including not being able to trust the guidance of doctors, trying to resolve health problems alone and how do you cope when taking expert advice goes badly for you?
How do you revise your story of self, worth and identity when il...
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Today (June 19th, 2024) marks 4 years since my Type 1 diabetes diagnosis which makes this the perfect time to talk about how my chronic illnesses affect my everyday life.
In this podcast I open up about each of my 4 different autoimmune diseases, the impact they have on me, what's changed what ongoing issues I still have and how I deal with them.
This includes how it&a...
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One of the big, missing pieces in supporting people with chronic illness is that there is so little acknowledgment that becoming chronically ill changes peoples lives and that this creates complex emotional issues that are in fact, completely normal.
The typical experience is that you get your diagnosis (or not) and leave the doctors office with no idea what to do next and how to eve...
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One of my main objectives both with my podcast and my work, is to educate and validate the very normal emotional experiences and issues that come with becoming chronically ill.
The feelings of jealousy and envy are the ones we don't talk about because it creates so much guilt and shame to even admit them to yourself, let alone to others.
Watching your friends doing all...
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Anxiety and dealing with constant 'what if' thoughts are something that every human has to deal with as our brain is trying to interpret our environment for potential threats to try and keep us safe.
But when you live with chronic illness, you will experience new levels of fear that create specific types of anxiety that non chronically ill people never need to think about....
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When you live with chronic illness, you can feel so very alone which makes getting support more important than ever.
What's often shocking though is discovering just how little support is actually out there!
There is so little knowledge about chronic illness in our communities, families, medical and social support systems that you can end up feel judged, blamed, isolate...
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If you live with chronic illness and autoimmune disease, then you understand just how frustrating and debilitating brain fog can be.
From the embarrassment of forgetting simple words, losing your ability to concentrate and focus or reading the same lines over and over again and still not being able to take it in, brain fog can have a significant impact impact on our work, relationshi...
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This episode is a collaboration between myself, my clients and my social media community.
We all know that one of the biggest issues we face is the lack of understanding about what chronic illness is and the ongoing impact it has on those of us living with it.
In this episode I share what those of us with chronic illness most want people to understand and trust me, everyone...
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There is no denying that when it comes to chronic illness, there is a huge gap in peoples understanding of just how much it changes your life, energy and ability.
So when it comes to trying to share your feelings, doubts, fears and sadness about your experiences of living with chronic illness, you are so often met with toxic positivity responses like 'at least it's not can...
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When you become chronically ill, one of the biggest challenges you will face because of how the disease so often limits your energy and ability, is an increased need for rest.
In fact, rest is an essential component of responsible chronic illness management.
Yet so many of us struggle with embracing rest because of ongoing issues of feeling guilty about the amount of rest we...
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The hallmark symptom of all chronic illness is without question, the fatigue.
Every time I ask my community which symptom they most wish they could eliminate permanently, fatigue tops the list.
It is debilitating, disabling and usually coincides with things like brain fog, pain, anxiety and depression.
So it's no surprise that learning how to manage the energ...
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Having good boundaries in our relationships at any time are essential, but during the holiday season, they take on a much bigger importance!
There are so many expectations, pressures and emotions that only happen during the Holidays and New Years Eve that are a sure fire way to ramp up your anxiety and guilt and send you crashing into a major flare that can leave you on the sidelines ...
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The impact on your family and partners can be huge, potentially damaging and be the cause of so much guilt, conflict, resentment and division.
A few weeks ago, I asked my wonderful email community to ask their partners what sorts of issues or advice they most needed and they definitely delivered!
...
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