If you are a person who suffers from anxiety and also a chronic medical illness it may seem as though you have been given a double whammy. Here on Health Central we have many sites which help to support the patient who has a chronic illness including:
• Diabetes
• Multiple Sclerosis
These are just some of the many chronic conditions we see here among Health Central members looking for information, resources and support. Add to this, many of these same people who suffer from a chronic illness may also experience great stress and anxiety. Sometimes the anxiety issues came well before the diagnosis of a chronic medical condition and sometimes they come after.
Regardless of when the anxiety began, it can be very difficult to deal with in combination with another illness. In this post I am going to offer my personal reflection of what it has been like for me, a patient who has always suffered from anxiety and was also diagnosed with a lifelong illness called Multiple Sclerosis.
During my lifetime I have coped with having phobias, panic attacks, and generalized anxiety. I can tell you that I have never been fond of seeing doctors or of going to hospitals. So when I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis in the Fall of 2007, my anxiety levels shot through the roof. For someone who is afraid of enclosed spaces I had to undergo many MRI’s where they stick you in a tube and you have to remain still for up to an hour or more. I hate needles but that is also a part of the process of getting an MRI to be hooked up to an IV. I have also always been terrified of physical illness so many of my fears were being invoked at once.
A person who suffers from anxiety quite often feels like they have no control and that bad things can happen at any moment. So when you hear that diagnosis for the first time that you have an incurable chronic disease or illness you freak out a little bit. Okay a lot!
Here are some ways that I have coped with my anxiety that I hope can benefit others who are in a similar situation.
1. Research your illness or disease. Health Central can help with this research process in providing you with information and resources about your condition. Anxiety grows when we let our imaginations run wild with what we don’t know. Knowing more about the facts of your illness makes you a more empowered patient in making decisions and choices about your treatment.
2. Try not to seek out the most dismal and extreme stories on the Internet concerning your illness. For any diagnosis there are the horror stories and some people love to tell them. But quite often these extreme cases are not the norm. It does no good to frighten yourself to death over these extreme cases. Nobody has a crystal ball. Just because you hear about one bad story doesn’t mean it will happen to you.
