To commemorate National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, I’ll be offering a series of short articles to help you live well with chronic illness. Article 1, “5 Tips for Managing Stress Associated with Chronic Illness,” is below.
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Five Tips to Manage the Stress of Chronic Illness
by Mary J. Yerkes
Chronic illness increases your physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges, as well as your stress. Small, seemingly insignificant delays or problems can seem overwhelming when you live with chronic pain and illness. And it’s no secret that stress can negatively impact your health and exacerbate your symptoms.
That’s why it’s critical that you learn to reduce and manage life’s stressors.
Five Tips for Managing Stress
Here are five proven techniques for managing stress and living well with chronic illness.
Identify your stressors. Before you can manage stress you must understand what’s causing it. One way to identify your stressors is to create a stress diart. Draw a chart with five columns, and label each column as follows: date, stressor, time, physical symptoms, emotional symptoms, and thoughts. Your first entry may look something like this: 9/14/09 (date), left late for work, caught in traffic (stressor), 7:00 am, (time), headache, fast heartbeat, foggy thinking (physical symptoms), angry, frustrated, and depressed (emotional symptoms), “Traffic is always bad on Mondays. Why does this always happen? (thought). Keep the list for a minimum of a week before reviewing it.
Reduce or eliminate the negative. Review your stress diary. Is there a pattern? Are there predictable times or days when you feel particularly stressed? Brainstorm solutions and options that could help reduce the stress. Look at your thought patterns in difficult situations. Are you telling yourself the truth? For example, by examining my stress diary, I noticed a pattern of feeling stressed when I signed up to bring homemade goods to family and work events. By the time I did the grocery shopping, prepared my dish, and safely carried it to the event, I was exhausted. After repeating this pattern several times, I decided to bring a prepared dish from the grocery store rather than make one at home myself. I’ve done that for awhile now and find that my stress is reduced and I have more energy to enjoy the company of friends at the event.
Build margin into your life. Dr. Richard A Swenson’s book, Margin: Restoring Emotional, Physical, Financial, and Time Reserves to Overloaded Lives, is an excellent tool that can help you do just that. Dr. Swenson defines margin as “the amount allowed beyond that which is needed. It is something held in reserve for contingencies or unanticipated situations…It is the leeway we once had between ourselves and our limits. In his book, Swenson prescribes specific steps to cultivate physical, emotional, spiritual, and financial margins. For example, to restore emotional margins, he recommends cultivating social supports and healthy relationships, reconcile relationships, rest, laugh, and create appropriate boundaries, to name a few.
Eliminate or reduce contact with toxic people. Toxic people have been called “emotional vampires,” and rightly so. They suck the life right out of you and leave you physically, emotionally, mentally, and even spiritually exhausted. Eliminate the toxic relationships you can (friends, acquaintances, church members who don’t understand the limitations of chronic illness, etc.) and reduce contact with those you can’t (your sister, parents, in-laws, etc.) .
Build up a resistance to stress by taking good care of your body. Ways to take good care of your body include eating a balanced diet, getting sufficient rest and sleep, avoiding drugs and alcohol, exercising, saving energy by pacing your activities, and follow your doctor’s orders for taking prescribed medications and actively participating in your health care.
By following these few simple tips, you’re on the way to “living well” with chronic illness.
Flu vaccines are available from Walgreens nationwide. Stop by your local Walgreens and get yours today.
From Fox News…
The American public needs to get vaccinated now — today — in order to protect themselves from seasonal influenza, and then get the H1N1 vaccine as soon as it becomes available in mid-October.
That was the urgent message Secretary of Health Kathleen Sebelius was hoping her colleagues and the media would take away from a press conference she held Thursday morning.
“H1N1 has been getting top line publicity and it’s important to know that seasonal flu takes a toll year in and year out,” Sebelius said. “But each year, 36,000 Americans die from the seasonal flu. This is a serious disease. When it comes to strains of the flu, getting vaccinated is the best defense.”
A virtual conference is not the results of budget cuts for National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, but the result of what benefits the most people who live with illness.
SEPT 2009-SAN DIEGO – Hard beds, traveling expenses, long walks to conference rooms, peers going overboard on the perfume, and extreme fatigue are predictably part of your average conference. For the chronically ill, however, these inconveniences oftentimes make attending an actual conference impossible. National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week celebrates its seventh year, and with the power of social networking, 009’s “virtual” conference September 14-18, 2009 is sure to be a success.
“I can only leave the house once a week, twice if I am really lucky, so a weeklong conference is normally impossible for me,” says Juliann Krute who lives with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome and many other illnesses. “Having a conference that I can attend-even if I am in too much pain to get out of bed-is fantastic!”
The conference will feature twenty live seminars via Blog Talk Radio that anyone around the globe can listen to LIVE or archived. The 200[+/-]ERROR: No passage found for your query. 8 workshops have had over 12,000 listeners and are also available on iTunes.
Topics for 2009’s conference include:
Applying and Winning Disability Assistance When You Are Chronically Ill
Managing College with a Chronic Illness
Find the Job You Desire and Can Do
It’s OK to say NO: Building Healthy Boundaries
Coping with Chronic Illness in Your Marriage
[ See more here ]
Guest speakers are some of the top chronic illness advocates online today including Jenni Prokopy of chronicababe.com; Rosalind Joffe of keepworkinggirlfriend.com; Maureen Pratt, author of Peace in the Storm, and Christine Miserandino of butyoudontlooksick.com. They are joined by.Kelly Rouba, former Ms. Wheelchair NJ 2007, and best-selling authors on marriage, Bill and Pam Farrel.
Invisible Illness Week was founded by and is sponsored by Rest Ministries, the largest Christian organization that serves the chronically ill.
Lisa Copen, 40, founder of Rest Ministries and creator behind National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week says, “Regardless of where one’s spiritual ties are, there is an fundamental human desire to feel understood, to feel like those you love have some idea about what you are going through.” Copen, who is explored this in her book Why Can’t I Make People Understand: Discovering the Validation Those With Chronic Illness Seek and Why says, “One of the most difficult adjustments to illness is that you feel life is passing you by and no one around you even realizes it. We hope through our conference we can provide a place where people find the true source of being validated in their pain, how to live joyfully despite their illness, and of course, we want to increase awareness about how many suffer silently. Like our theme says, ‘A Little Help Gives a Lot of Hope.’ It really does.”
I live with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), psoriatic arthritis, and ankloysing spondylitis, all autoimmune diseases.
I was diagnosed in 1997.
I’ve had symptoms for 13 years.
The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is the social isolation that occurs because I can’t join friends for outings or go out in the evenings due to pain and fatigue.
Most people assume arthritis is minor aches and pains, not understanding that is systemic and affects every part of my body. In many ways, it’s like living with the flu 24/7, except I’ll never get well.
The hardest part about mornings…getting out of bed and waiting for the morning stiffness to subside.
My favorite medical TV show is House.
A gadget I couldn’t live without is the Internet. It’s my connection to the world on many levels.
The hardest part about nights is getting a good night’s sleep.
Each day I take 15 pills. Each week I give myself two subcutaneous injections.
Regarding alternative treatments…I take nutritional supplements and use various creative endeavors to manage pain and deal with the maelstrom of emotions that frequently accompany chronic illness.
If I had to choose between an invisible chronic illness and visible illness, I’d choose the invisible one at this point…it’s all I know.
Regarding work and career…I work as a professional writer 30 hours a week outside of the home and about 10-15 hours a week at home, focusing on my freelance writing career. It’s more than I can comfortably do. I need to make some changes in the weeks ahead.
People would be surprised to know that I live a rich and meaningful life despite my chronic pain, fatigue, and limitations.
The hardest thing to accept about my new reality is I can’t push past the pain without severe physical repercussions
Something I never thought I could do with my illness is live a passionate and purposeful life.
The commercials about my illness are an important educational tool.
Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is spending time with family and friends in the evening. Instead, I’m in bed, although not asleep, most nights around 5 pm due to pain and fatigue.
It was really hard to give up participating in evening events and activities.
A new hobby I’ve taken up since my diagnosis, writing, turned into a satisfying career.
If I could have one day of feeling normal again I’d dance.
My illness has taught me many things…but what has surprised me most is the realization that God has a plan and purpose for my life–even with chronic illness.
Want to know a secret…I don’t remember what it feels like to live without pain and fatigue.
I love it when people call or e-mail to tell me they’re thinking about me and praying for me.
My favorite Scripture…there are too many too count. However, Jeremiah 29:11[+/-]Jeremiah 29:11
[11]For I know the plans I have for you, declares the
LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a
future and a hope. (ESV) was a turning point for me when I realized that God had a plan and purpose for my life–even with chronic illness.
When someone is diagnosed, I want to tell them that life isn’t over…that you can rebuild a rich and meaningful life.
Something that has surprised me about my illness is the richness of life I experience, despite my illness.
The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was done by my husband, Paul, who shortly after my diagnosis, whisked me away for a surprise weekend getaway in a fancy hotel near the beach.
I’m involved in invisible illness week to raise awareness and educate the public.
The fact that you read this list encourages me and makes me feel as if I’ve made a difference.
Find out more about National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week and the 5-day free virtual conference with 20 speakers Sept 14-18, 2009 at www.invisibleillness.com
Nearly 1 in 2 Americans (133 million) live with chronic conditions and illnesses such as arthritis, multiple sclerosis (MS), diabetes or lupus. Yet, most show no outward sign of their disability—or the sense of loss, loneliness, and discouragement they live with daily. Pain, fatigue, limited mobility, and other symptoms interfere with everyday activities, responsibilities, and relationships.
Well-meaning friends and family, not understanding the unique challenges of the chronically ill, don’t know what to say or do to help. Here’s how you can help those living with chronic illness:
Release expectations and be flexible. For someone living with chronic illness, it is possible to feel well one day and sick the next, making last-minute cancellation of plans unavoidable. Expect unpredictability and extend grace.
Spend time with the chronically ill when its convenient for them. Meet at a time of day when they feel best. Those living with chronic illness struggle with regular attendance at work church, and social gatherings. Pain and fatigue take their toll, leading to physical and emotional isolation. Take time to visit those living with chronic illness at their homes or invite them to lunch—at a time that works best for them. A short visit over coffee or tea can make a world of difference in the life of someone struggling with chronic pain.
Send notes, cards, and small gifts in the mail. Books, CD’s, or magazines can provide tremendous encouragement to those unable to leave their homes due to pain and fatigue.
Affirm the individual’s worth and value. Feelings of insignificance and low self-worth often accompany chronic illness. Verbally affirm those you know who live with chronic illness. Don’t “assume” they have it “all together,” even if they look like they do! Speak words of affirmation, based on who they are not on what they do.
Listen. Be a “safe place” where those suffering can express frustration, anger, or discouragement.
Understand when those living with chronic illness arrive late or leave early. Those suffering with chronic illness struggle with excessive fatigue, making long meetings and traveling to conferences and events difficult. Allow for late arrivals and early departures.
I’ll be blogging about “living well” with chronic illness for National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week, starting September 14, 2009. Check back soon for details!
Surrender All–Your Answer to Living with Peace, Power & Purpose is a timely message for troubled times. Written by television personality Joni Lamb, this uplifting book is an easy read that offers a simple, yet profound, message–it is only in living a surrendered life that we’ll find peace and purpose. It’s a message that we don’t hear often enough in today’s evangelical church.
Surrender All encourages readers to meet the struggles and hardships of life with one powerful act of faith. Surrender. Lamb illustrates this biblical precept through her own testimony and the lives of others–lives of ordinary men and women who when faced with hardship and adversity chose the path of surrender:
A romance novelist who surrendered her successful career as a writer of steamy romances to write about the love of God and found an even greater writing career.
A couple whose marriage was healed and restored two years after their divorce.
The young man who lived without oxygen for the first eighteen minutes of life and was left with cerebral palsy. Despite his physical challenges, he has been preaching the word of God for more than thirty years, speaking in more than six thousand churches.
One word of warning. If you’re looking for an intellectual as well as a spiritual challenge, you may be disappointed. Still, it is worth the read.
All in all, Surrender All is an inspiring book that reminds us of the importance of surrendering all–our marriages, children, career, health, friendships, and even our loss and failures. “Life will not be perfect, nor will it be painless,” writes Lamb, “but the path of surrender is a place of peace within a place of rest.”
Surrender All reminds us of the joy found in surrender and the deep abiding satisfaction that comes only through living a life surrendered to a purpose greater than ourselves–the very purposes of God.
Are you using the slump in the publishing industry wisely? Downtime is a good time to update your promotional materials, take a class, refresh your writer’s website, and more. And, if you’re a writer who has published extensively in print but who has minimal experience writing for an online audience, now is the time to learn. As more and more publishers move to electronic and digital media, be proactive. Equip yourself for success.
With added exposure in your writing and speaking ministry comes added demands. In other words, when you have talent, people want more of you. You can make people happy by saying “yes” often, or you can make an eternal impact by saying “no” to most of the opportunities that come your way and focusing on those that are in line with your calling.
Saying “no” to people’s demands allows you to say “yes” to the things that really matter.
It’s the title that got me. Not that I need anything to add to my already too full schedule. But with a title like that, I couldn’t resist. It’s a message we all need to hear again and again.
Watch for my upcoming review of Surrender All by Joni Lamb.
Chronic illness increases your physical, emotional, and spiritual challenges, as well as your stress. Small, seemingly insignificant delays or problems can seem overwhelming when you live with chronic pain and illness. And it’s no secret that stress can negatively impact your health and exacerbate your symptoms.
