chronic illness

4 Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness

January 18, 2017 by Luckily Leave a Comment

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4 Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness
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Chronic illness has an uncanny ability to change your life. One moment you’re flying high, the next you’re worried about your health. You wonder whether you will ever get better.
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People who spend an extended amount of time battling a disease learn a lot about what it’s like to be ill. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis or you’re simply recovering from a broken leg. You’ll certainly be aware of Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness. But stay strong…
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Below are 4 lessons you’ll learn while you’re off work:
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Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness #1:
Life Can Be A Little Awkward

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When you’ve just got a cold or the flu, the people around you will act pretty much the same as they’ve always done.
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However, when you’ve got a disease which affects your ability to function or which threatens your life, then you suddenly notice that they change.
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Many people often are unsure about how they should behave around a sick person. Because of this, you’ll find that some conversations can be quite awkward. How you react all depends on your personality. You may find yourself spending a lot of time simply reassuring people, even though you are the one who’s ill.
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Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness #2:
Money Issues Can Become Challenging

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When you are sick, your ability to earn money decreases. Employee long term sickness is a big problem for both you and your employer.
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You will often find that you have to spend a lot of time navigating the benefits system, trying to find out which payments you are entitled to. That will involve a lot of conversations with your employer as well as with your doctor.

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Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness #3:
Less Suddenly Becomes More

When you are healthy, you take a lot of things for granted. For instance, the laugh of a small child or a hug can get lost in the hustle and bustle of your day.
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But when you have a chronic illness things change. You begin to notice all the smaller things in life that really make a difference. As a result, you start to learn that “less is more.”
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When you suffer from a chronic disease, you have much more time to spend contemplating and reflecting on the nature of existence. You become far more mindful of the things which are going on around you. You have a lot more time for other people.
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Even though you may not be working, new opportunities open up to expand your horizons in new and exciting ways.
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Lessons Learned from Chronic Illness #4:
You Learn About Change
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Psychologists have known for a long time the fact that people discount the possibility of change in their lives. .
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This is one explanation why people don’t listen to the authorities when they are told to evacuate their homes because of flooding or a storm. They just assume that things will never change and that life will carry on as normal.
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Psychologists call this normalcy bias, and it is something that most healthy people have. But when you get sick, you suddenly realise that life is all about change.
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The things that you used to be able to do you are no longer able to do. Suddenly the past it looks very different to the future. There is no “normal” anymore: there is just change.
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How to Deal with Chronic Health Conditions: 4 Top Illnesses & Their Treatment Suggestions

December 9, 2016 by Luckily Leave a Comment

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How to Deal with Chronic Health Conditions:
4 Top Illnesses & Their Treatment Suggestions

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A chronic illness is something that nobody would wish on anyone.
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Chronic illnesses are health-related concerns which last for an indefinite amount of time. They can be anything form heart disease to blindness.
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If you or a loved one suffer from a chronic condition, it is a good idea to get to know the condition well. It is only by understanding it fully that you can know how to deal with it.
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Let’s take a look at 4 common conditions and how you can go about dealing with them.
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Chronic Health Conditions #1. Heart Disease
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Chronic Health Conditions .Heart disease is a terrible affliction and very scary. The hardest part of all may be to learn to live a normal life once the initial scare is over, and you go into maintenance mode with the appropriate medication and care.
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Anxiety will likely be a large and noticeable part of the the ongoing disease state. This is completely founded, and there is no reason to feel ashamed for it.
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Learn stress and anxiety relief. Usually, anxiety and stress are at their highest near the start, when the diagnosis has been declared. Learn about your disease as this will help to reduce your anxiety.
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Ask your doctors and friends and family what you can expect, and what is actually going on inside your body. The more you understand, the more you will be able to actively do something about your condition, and the more in control you will be. This will help reduce your anxiety hugely.
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Chronic Health Conditions #2. Diabetes

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Diabetes can be affected drastically by too much stress. As such, diabetes sufferers should learn to keep stress to a minimum.
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Simple, basic deep breathing exercises help tremendously. Gentle outdoor activities such as gardening and walking can be hugely helpful in keeping stress to a minimum.
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In addition, a balanced diet is a must for diabetics. Proper blood sugar levels are hugely important. Choose foods which are free of trans fat, sugar and salt. These are your main exacerbators, so avoiding them will work wonders.
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Diabetes, though serious, is actually relatively manageable compared to a lot of other chronic conditions.
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Chronic Health Conditions #3. Problems with your Vision
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Chronic Health Conditions .Chronic conditions are at the far more serious end of the scale. Eye problems, although also serious are not so life-threatening.
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Yet, chronic eyesight problems can cause a huge range of health problems, physically and psychologically, and can also affect your quality of life profoundly.
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There are many kinds of eyesight problems, ranging from slight cataracts to full blindness. But what are some of the best coping mechanisms, regardless of the severity of the condition?
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Let’s take dry eyes as an example of an eye problem with some serious side-effects. This is a condition which is actually relatively common, and yet many people are unaware of it.
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Dry eyes is exactly what it sounds like – but it is more serious than you might think. There are two possible causes of dry eyes – either that your eyes do not produce enough tears, or that the tears are of an inferior quality.
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Either way, dry eyes are the result – and this can be a nuisance for anyone who suffers from it. Older women are more likely to have dry eyes, although it can happen to anyone.
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Fortunately, there are a few ways to care for this yourself: If you suffer from dry eyes, make sure you remember to blink as regularly as possible, and always wear sunglasses outdoors, even if it is not particularly sunny.
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Partial blindness is another serious eye condition. This can be congenital (from birth) or as a result of an accident. Fortunately, there are always solutions at hand, such as laser surgery from eye clinics such as W Eye Clinic.
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Chronic Health Conditions #4. Depression
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Chronic Health Conditions Depression is one of the most common chronic conditions, and it can be potentially lethal, frequently driving people to suicide.
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Part of the danger with depression is that it can easily go undiagnosed for many years, sometimes even decades. And even when it is diagnosed, it can be a difficult thing to try and cure.
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The good news is that it is possible to treat depression to the point where you are able to function in a normal way.
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If you suffer from chronic depression, the most important thing is to make sure that you look after yourself as well as you can. This can often be one of the hardest things to do, and yet it is so often the most necessary.
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Physical activity helps tremendously. Getting regular exercise is a hugely important part of ensuring that you can continue on in a positive way.
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Meditation can be a genuine lifesaver for many people with depression. The act itself is actually very simple; all it involves is focusing deeply on the breath for as long as you like, in as finely tuned a way as you can.
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If you engage in this twice a day for a week, you will already notice a huge difference in how you feel about yourself and the world around you. Done right, it might make all the difference to your life.
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How to Overcome Chronic Illness and Depression: 3 Wisdom Tips For Making It Through The Dark Night of The Soul

October 22, 2016 by Luckily Leave a Comment

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How to Overcome Chronic Illness and Depression:
3 Wisdom Tips For Making It Through The Dark Night of The Soul

Light at the end of the tunnel!

Chronic illness and depression go together hand-in-hand. For anyone diagnosed with a chronic illness, unfortunately it can be all too easy to let it get the better of you.
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It goes without saying that it is always a shock when a diagnosis like this occurs.
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However, it is important to remember that chronic does not necessarily mean life-threatening.
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No matter what disease you are diagnosed with, there is always a risk of it being coupled with depression. As a mental illness, depression often has a way of going hand-in-hand with physical illnesses. It is important to do everything possible to keep depression at bay if you have recently been diagnosed with a chronic illness.
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Let’s take a look at 3 practical steps you can take to reduce the likelihood of depression occurring, and dealing with it if it does.
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How to Overcome Chronic Illness and Depression
A Way Out ~~~ Tip #1: Know The Symptoms

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Depression is a common issue and often goes undiagnosed for many years. There are huge swathes of people out there who are not even aware that they are suffering from depression. Others, of course, know all too well.
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One of the main factors in fighting depression is also one of the simplest: get to know the symptoms. This might sound basic; you might assume that you already know the symptoms. However, it is possible that this is not the case.
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The most common signs are a lack of energy accompanied by a dark mood. If you feel that the things that used to give you joy no longer do, then that is a working definition of depression.
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Knowing what to look out for arms you against the worse of it, and makes prevention more likely.
Omega 3 is a fatty acid found in oils derived from certain fish. The oil itself acts as an anti-inflammatory, closing pathways in individual cells. This limits some of your bodies normal functions when they operate at high levels.
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Your body needs Omega 3 to build cell membranes, increase cell efficiency and control blood clotting, but doesn’t produce it on its own. So we need to get it from our food

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How to Overcome Chronic Illness and Depression
A Way Out ~~~ Tip #2: Accept The Help Of Others
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If you are lucky, there will be plenty of people around you when you are starting out on this journey. Dealing with chronic illness is difficult at the best of times. But without the help of loved ones, it can seem impossible.
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The truth is that depression is much more likely to take hold if you do not have a strong support system.
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It is therefore vital that you make the most of whatever help is offered to you.
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This might be in the form of friends and family, or it could be carers from a live-in care company. Either way, make sure you accept any help that is offered. It really does make a difference.
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How to Overcome Chronic Illness and Depression
A Way Out~~~Tip #3: Take Active Preventative Measures
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Knowing what depression looks like and having the support of others are the two main essentials.
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But beyond that, you also need to know how to take active preventative measures to minimise the chance of depression taking hold.
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There is much that you can do in this regard. However, some of it will depend on what your illness is and how active you are. If you are able to move around easily, then getting in a decent amount of exercise is one of the most effective ways to keep depression at bay. You should endeavour to be as active as your physicality will allow you.
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Preventing depression is also about trying to remain as positive as possible. This is much easier said than done, but mostly it is a matter of practice.
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