Emotional Autoimmunity: Dealing with the emotional issues of chronic illness

This episode is a collaboration between myself, my clients and my social media community. 

We all know that one of the biggest issues we face is the lack of understanding about what chronic illness is and the ongoing impact it has on those of us living with it. 

In this episode I share what those of us with chronic illness most want people to understand and trust me, everyone who contributed to this did not hold back!

This podcast is a great one to share with your friends, family, partners and chronic illness communities so make sure you listen and share and if you want to help me reach more people who need to hear this, please leave me a review. 

Let's help educate and spread the word of the practical realities and emotional issues that becoming chronically ill bring from those who know it best. 

There is no denying that when it comes to chronic illness, there is a huge gap in peoples understanding of just how much it changes your life, energy and ability. 

So when it comes to trying to share your feelings, doubts, fears and sadness about your experiences of living with chronic illness, you are  so often met with toxic positivity responses like 'at least it's not cancer' or 'you just need to be more positive'.

Many of the normal emotional experiences that come with chronic illness are so often wrongly interpreted by others as self-pity which feels dismissive, judgmental and demeaning. 

In this episode I will walk you through all the ways that self-pity, self-compassion and toxic positivity relate to living with chronic illness and give you some insight into dealing with toxic positivity and learning to practice and benefit from self-compassion. 

If you live with chronic illness and have ever worried about getting stuck in self-pity or felt shut down by all the 'just think more positive' people, then this episode is for you!

When you become chronically ill, one of the biggest challenges you will face because of how the disease so often limits your energy and ability, is an increased need for rest.

In fact, rest is an essential component of responsible chronic illness management. 

Yet so many of us struggle with embracing rest because of ongoing issues of feeling guilty about the amount of rest we need, anxiety about everything that is being left undone and fear of being judged as lazy or selfish. 

And if you are resting while still feeling guilty, ashamed or anxious, then you can't get any benefit from rest at all. 

In this episode I walk you through the issues with guilt about rest, why it happens and give strategies on how you can start changing your relationship with rest so you can start making the most of it. 

The hallmark symptom of all chronic illness is without question, the fatigue. 

Every time I ask my community which symptom they most wish they could eliminate permanently, fatigue tops the list. 

It is debilitating, disabling and usually coincides with things like brain fog, pain, anxiety and depression. 

So it's no surprise that learning how to manage the energy you have is one of the most important challenges those of us with chronic illness face. 

Your level of functionality depends on which energy stage you are experiencing now and how much you can resist the temptation to "do all the things" on the days you do have energy.

Because when you try and do "all the things" there is a very real risk of pushing yourself back into another lengthy flare where you are exhausted  or bed-bound again. 

In this episode, I walk you through what the different energy stages of chronic illness are, share my top tips on managing each stage and more importantly, know how to protect and get the best from your precious energy levels. 

Having good boundaries in our relationships at any time are essential, but during the holiday season, they take on a much bigger importance!

There are so many expectations, pressures and emotions that only happen during the Holidays and New Years Eve that are a sure fire way to ramp up your anxiety and guilt and send you crashing into a major flare that can leave you on the sidelines for days, weeks or even longer. 

When it comes to chronic illness, there are two key foundations that I use to not only feel good about setting boundaries, but start keeping them guilt free. 

In this last podcast of the year for 2023, I walk you through what those foundations are, give clear examples of why and how they work and tell you practical ways you can start thinking about what boundaries you can start setting in place to better protect your precious health and energy.