Chronic illness

It is normal to experience a range of emotions in response to a new diagnosis, or when managing a chronic or terminal health condition. For example, you may experience grief and sadness as you adjust to various changes in your life or feel anxious about treatment and your future. Sometimes these concerns can be difficult to manage, impacting on your mental health. Talking to someone can help to
navigate you through some of these difficulties, especially if you notice a significant decline in your mental health.

What are some of the common psychological difficulties associated with Chronic Health Problems?

  • Guilt and self-blame. For example, you may feel guilty for reducing the level of support you provide your family. Additionally, you may view yourself as a “burden” to family and friends, and struggle to accept their care.
  • Stress and pressure. Our society tends to focus on “staying positive” even in the darkest times. While being positive offers hope and happiness, it can also feel invalidating and lonely to someone who is suffering.
  • Anxiety. Chronic health conditions can be frightening given their unpredictable nature and impact on wellbeing. As such, it is common to feel anxious when thinking about ill health or when addressing health issues.
  • Learnt helplessness and feeling overwhelmed. You may fear taking on too much and worsening your health and therefore cut back on activities or social outings. For example, you may decide to drop one of your hobbies to reduce perceived pressure. However, the more we avoid things in life, the more we
    lose confidence in our abilities. This creates a vicious cycle, as reduced confidence can lead to avoidant behaviours. As well, if you are knocked off your feet due to illness, you may become susceptible to “learnt helplessness”, giving up on trying activities/tasks, due to the reoccurring experience of being
    helpless (because of illness).
  • Chronic health issues can affect your self-esteem and confidence. You may feel part of your identity is missing, due to a change in focus and roles. For example, you may have stepped back from work or reduced the amount you do as a parent. As a result, you may feel devalued and unimportant.
  • Difficulty managing pain. There is a large psychological component to pain: usually the more we want to get rid of pain, the more we tend to experience pain. Understanding the complex relationship between pain and the mind can lead to pain relief.
  • Low mood and depression. Chronic health problems can lead to social withdrawal, a decrease in activities and study/work, pain and suffering, relationship difficulties, and sadness and anger. Such hardship can influence a low mood and depression.

How can I manage the psychological difficulties associated with my ChronicHealth Problem?

Several well-researched treatments are effective in managing psychological difficulties associated with Chronic Health Problems, including Cognitive-behavioural Therapy (CBT), Psychoeducation, Self-Help, Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT) and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT).