Greetings and welcome to the wellness blog! First, to let you know about me, I am a licensed counselor who deals with chronic illness and accompanying emotions. Much of this writing comes out of my own personal experience with Interstitial Cystitis, (from here out called IC), as well as experience in working with clients with chronic conditions. I hope this will be beneficial for anyone with a chronic condition, and I welcome your input! There are so many overlapping variables in most, if not all chronic illnesses, and the thing that ties them all together is their CHRONICITY!
So, here are some facts about chronicity. The word chronic means “marked by long duration or frequent recurrence; always present or encountered; constantly vexing, weakening, or being such habitually.” Today it is estimated that 33% of Americans deal with chronic pain alone (Bay Area Pain and Wellness Center stats), not to mention other chronic conditions, such as diabetes that don’t necessarily cause pain. Over 50% of people deal with depression or anxiety as a result of their chronic pain. Most people don’t realize that researchers (ACE study) have found a strong correlation, a link between emotional health and physical health, and that this tendency is: 1) genetic, & 2) is dependent on our childhood. (So, I guess we really can blame our parents!) So you think, naturally someone with chronic health issues would be depressed or anxious, but here’s the progression: genetic predisposition, difficulties or trauma in childhood, chronic health issues, expressed emotional issues (appearing to be a result of our chronic health, but really many of them were there to begin with!).
So what can WE do about this epidemic problem?? Here’s my opinion, (although heavily based on fact): first, we must stop blaming someone else and take responsibility. It’s like this: you didn’t cause the problem, but now it’s yours and only you can take care of the problem. Why am I talking about this in relation to chronic illness? Well, as I said research shows that chronic illness comes out of childhood trauma or distress. It is the largest predictor of adult health. I don’t know about you, but that really gets my attention! The next question that came to mind was, so what can I do about it now? Fortunately, studies and experience show that integrative medicine (I will talk more about this next week), viewing the individual holistically--made up of body-mind-spirit, has been successful in managing chronic conditions. Through a variety of approaches in treating the individual, each part goes through a healing process, which then affects the overall health of the whole. Make sense? It did to me! I have a lot more information to share with you, so stay tuned!
