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Crohns Disease and Stress...Learn to keep it in check to improve your health
They can feel like Henry Kissinger did when he said, "There cannot be a stressful crisis next week. My schedule is already full."
While that quote is humorous, the fact of the matter is that for you, as well as everyone else, life is both a mixture of opportunity and difficulty. And both of these forces exert a lot of pressure on both your body and your emotions. You need to deal with them effectively.
In a like way, the way you deal with the forces in your life affects the course of your disease. So it is important for you to learn workable techniques that will help you cope.
In this part of the website, you will learn what activities and thoughts are causing you tension, anxiety, and agitation. These will be your particular stressors. As you read, keep in mind that what causes tension and worry in one person may be someone else's cup of tea.
You will also learn tip after tip on how to reduce stress. Stress relief techniques that can drastically reduce the pressure you're under. This is important and this is probably something your doctor never talked to you about. Or, if so, in a very limited way.
Doctors deal directly with the disease through prescriptions and surgery. That, of course, is their focus. And you need to be able to talk easily with your doctor about what's happening to you because of the disease.
But unless your doctor is going to issue you prescriptions for valium or something similar, it is up to you to take the lead in learning how to cope with the all you encounter in life and from your disease. This is very important because how you deal with them will directly affect the intensity of the symptoms you experience from the disease.
Consider what Moliere said back in the 1600's:
"The mind has great influence over the body, and maladies often have their origin there."
Even four centuries ago, people understood there was a connection between the mind, the body, and disease. A large part of handling stress comes from how the mind handles it.
Now, what is a stressor? It is any stimulus in your life that causes you stress. You need to know what these stimuli are so you can deal effectively with them.
Let's begin with those that come from the disease.
Additional pressures caused by The Disease:
* Pain
* Taking medications - for some patients, many tablets, many times a day.
* Diarrhea - knowing where convenient restrooms are at all times.
* Anemia and fatigue - lack of energy.
* Arthritis brought on by Crohn's Disease.
* Going to doctors.
* Having diagnostic procedures done on a regular basis.
* Possible stays in the hospital.
* Possible surgeries - more than one for some patients.
* Weight loss for some patients.
* Depression
In addition to all of the above, you also have to consider what life in general is throwing at you? Everybody has these pressures. No one escapes.
You say you are not ready to deal with all of of it? You have no choice. That's the reality of your situation. But there are strategies and techniques you can use to help you cope with it all, and cope with it in a big way.
First, you have to discover what is affecting you. Once you've done that, you need to be able to keep up with it all, and to develop strategies to help you cope.
To go from this page to the Stress Strategies page, click here.
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