Tools for Dealing with Chronic Disease Stress

A topic that has come up often in the last couple of weeks through my chronic disease communities and advocacy groups is mental disorders as a cause of chronic illness. Anyone dealing with the side effects, afflictions and any other symptoms of a chronic disease knows that this can come with a laundry list of emotions. The burnout of dealing with these struggles day in and day out can be draining. An entire philosophy was built around the burnout effect. Take a look at “spoon theory” if you are not already familiar.

While I could write a book around the anxiety, depression, sadness and many other emotions associated with CD (and many books have already been written), I am going to focus on practical strategies for this post. As I like to point out in my blogs on any medical-related topic, I am not a medical professional. These techniques are built on advice from other professionals, self-improvement books, my own experiences and tips I have learned from others.

You may already know some or all of these techniques. Others may not be familiar with them. If you already have these “tools” at the ready for dealing with CD anxiety, this list can be a helpful little refresher. Coincidentally, refreshing yourself with your toolset is also a tool itself.

To start with, a simple but effective technique for dealing with stress, depression, anxiety, and any other slew of emotional burnout is mindfulness. This practice is about being aware of yourself within your environment. In simple terms, it means just being present.

Dialectical Behavior Therapy deploys mindfulness as one of its modules for controlling your emotions and state of mind. From The Expanded Dialectical Behavior Therapy Skill Training Manual  written by Lane Pederson – “Mindfulness means choosing to pay attention to this present moment, on purpose, without judgement.”

If you haven’t tried mindfulness, I highly recommend making this practice a part of your life. It’s easy to do. Pick an event throughout the day. For me, it is going to the bathroom (odd but effective), and each time that event happens, tell yourself to stop for a moment. Describe what you are doing, what you are seeing, what you are thinking and what you are feeling in that moment. This is the basic form of the practice and will lead you in the right direction. You may be surprised to see how much being aware of your state of being can change your mindset.

One last thing on mindfulness. If you want a quick and easy way to understand the practice, check out John Butler’s talk: https://youtu.be/wN9B0P6aFMg?si=xjsMHdLRphNKC4bH

I dare you not to be comforted by his words. He goes into religion, but you do not need to be religious to practice mindfulness.

The next technique is meditation. No, I’m not telling you to do yoga to cure your disease. Instead, this is about controlling your breathing and slowing your mind down. It is also about being present in the situation.

There are many forms of meditation, and similar to the John Butler video, there are many self-guided meditation videos on YouTube and in apps such as Calm. The important takeaway is that you center yourself. You turn off your mind to the outside world. You control your breathing, and you stay aware of that control. Meditation has been proven (you can look up any number of studies) to change brain chemistry.

The first time I—effectively—practiced meditation, I was amazed. After listening to a guided meditation, I woke up to find that my body was no longer tense, my mind was clear, and I had a whole new hopeful outlook on life. I kid you not; if you meditate correctly, it feels better than taking a Zanax or any name-a-drug out there.

The third tool is exercise or just generally moving around. This is another obvious one, but it is not something people follow through with regularly. I personally struggle with good exercise routines. Still, the act of movement and getting your heart rate up has exponential benefits for both the mind and body. Again, studies all over the place show how exercise can change your brain chemistry. The benefits are even more significant if you can exercise outside in nature. I don’t think I need to keep hitting home the importance of moving your body. Most people know it is important, so I will leave it at that.

The last technique—although there are many others—ensures you have a solid support system. This can be any group, person, family member, friend or whomever who is there for you when you need guidance and support. The caveat is that this person should be supporting you. Plenty of people in our lives have good intentions but are not necessarily supportive. I’m sure you know the kind of people I’m talking about.

I like to think through my week and note whether or not I have checked in with someone or if I have been involved in a social activity at least once a week. I also talk to people at work, but that’s not the same. Again, it has to be someone you can talk to that is supporting you. Ideally, you can support them as well.

                To list a few, here are examples of my support system:

1.      Family

2.      My good friend Mike who has a good ear and a good head on his shoulders

3.      My therapist, also a pretty damn good listener

4.      My online social groups (shoutout to the discord group; you know who you are)

5.      My advocacy groups. Getting involved and staying busy within an organization, club, sport, or any other type of group can be very effective for dealing with depression and loneliness. It gives me a reason to keep pushing even when I’m feeling down.

That’s it for my techniques. These are just a few of many. If you are lonely or feeling down, reach out to people in your life. If you don’t have someone available, look for a support group. Reach out to me. I will also be putting up support group links and other resources on the site.

Let me know your techniques for dealing with anxiety, stress, depression and burn-out from Chronic Disease in the comments section!

Speaking of the site, the Chronic Disease Living website is still in development in many ways. My goal is to provide a hub for information and support for those with chronic illnesses. While I continue working to meet this goal, I would love for more people to follow and sign up for the newsletter. I won’t go overboard with the self-promotion here, but I would really appreciate it if you could spread the word! It is chronicdiseaseliving.com.

Thanks to all of you who support me!

Dustin