Chronic Illness Therapist in Roswell, GA
You are not defined by your diagnosis.
Therapy for Chronic Illness
If you’ve had a diagnosis of a chronic illness, you may no longer feel like you anymore. While everyone else continues life as usual, you now have to manage new chronic symptoms (such as pain or exhaustion), doctor’s appointments, lots of medications, a changing body and not being able to do the things you used to do.
In the same way that someone would mourn the loss of a loved one, managing a chronic illness can also mean mourning the loss of the person that you used to be and the life that you used to have. It’s normal to feel all of the same emotions associated with grief: sadness, anger, guilt, denial.
Sometimes anxiety creeps in about the future. You find yourself wondering if things will get worse and it’s so hard to live in that fear, while still having a meaningful and fulfilling life.
You can choose how you will live in the face of your chronic illness.
In therapy for chronic illness, you will decide on who you want to be in the face of your chronic illness, so that you can face your life with acceptance instead of fear and avoidance. By deciding on your values and living in alignment with them, you will be taking control of the things in your life that are controllable and finding meaning and purpose in daily life.
This includes dropping the struggle against challenging thoughts and feelings around your illness and letting yourself grieve the changes to life that you wanted to have. While we cannot directly stop the symptoms you are experiencing, many times acceptance can lead to symptom reduction.
How does chronic illness affect your mental health?
Did you know that having a chronic illness makes you more likely to develop a mental health condition?
Managing lifelong symptoms and the burden of doctor’s visits and medication management contributes to daily stress and feelings of hopelessness, overwhelm and anxiety. This long term stress takes a toll on your physical and emotional health! It also shapes how you view yourself, your relationships and your future.
Short term feelings of sadness and anxiety are completely normal and expected after any major life change.
However, if these feelings continue to persist over time, interfere your daily life or keep you from being the person you want to be, then it may be time to seek out chronic illness counseling.
