ANGER AND CHRONIC ILLNESS

LIFE CAN BE A DIFFICULT JOURNEY. BUT IMAGINE THAT JOURNEY IF YOU ARE ILL ALL DAY EVERY DAY. WHEN SOMEONE IS LIVING WITH A CHRONIC ILLNESS, WHETHER IT BE A CANCER, CHRONIC PAIN, EVEN BRONCHITIS, THERE IS A BIG CHANCE THAT ANGER IS INVOLVED AS WELL.
You may get upset with yourself, your spouse and children, or with the rest of the world because you are not able to do what you could do before. Anger and other negative emotions can drain your energy out. Stop all such "leaks" in your energy, be they from anger, fear, or from feeling sorry for yourself. When living with chronic illness, we must learn how to manage our emotions. You may get upset with yourself, your spouse and children, or with the rest of the world because you are not able to do what you could do before. Anger and other negative emotions can drain your energy out. Stop all such "leaks" in your energy, be they from anger, fear, or from feeling sorry for yourself. Management of emotions really boils down to monitoring and modifying the negative thoughts that can play havoc with your mood. Why control thoughts? Because we feel what we think. Thoughts cause our moods. Most common negative thoughts that accompany a chronic illness are anger-, anxiety-, depression-, and isolation thoughts. Anger thoughts are about the unfairness of it all. Examples: "Why me?" "It's not fair." I can't do what I used to do." "Nobody cares about what's happening to me." "I was stupid for not seeing it coming." Anxious thoughts are about underestimating your own abilities to cope with the circumstances and ' overestimating the negative outcomes of the chronic illness. Examples: "It's going to be even worse in future." "I won't be able to handle the pain." I won't even have a clue about what to do if it got worse." Depressive thoughts are about loss of control, hopelessness regarding future and helplessness about the present. Examples: "I can't do anything anymore." "What is the use of trying." "It's only going to get worse in the future." "I can't help myself and nobody else can help me either." Isolation thoughts are due to lack of faith in others, even cynicism, and lack of understanding that there are many others who are in the same boat. Examples: "No one can understand my illness." No one wants to be around someone who is sick." "I have let everyone down, how can I face them now?"Anger at the doctor who made the diagnosis, the illness itself, and even at the rest of the world for going on about its business as if nothing had changed. Spending too much time at this stage can leave a person resentful of healthy people and bitter. Friends and family may even shun a person who gets stuck in this stage.Don't let your illness change the perception of who you are, who you were, and who you will become. You are more than your illness and your physical body. You are not a "heart patent," or a "lung patient," you are a person who has a heart disease or a lung disease. You can become a bigger hero by learning to manage your illness than you were as an "able bodied" person. Anybody can ride a regular horse but one who learns to ride a tiger is an object of our wonder and admiration. Anyone can run empty-handed but one who walks with two hundred pounds on his or her shoulders, even though experiencing excruciating pain and huffing and putting all during the act, is to us performing an extraordinary feat. If this does happen to you, I would suggest getting involved with a support group such as ardchat.com these places have people living with the same afflictions as you do. So there is always someone that can offer some good advice since they too are living a life of hell.Being Angry is totally understandable. I myself am so angry that there are times I see RED!!!I was married at 18. Had my first child at 19, and this is where the hell began. This doctor would not even let me try to have a vaginal birth. When I was 6 months pregnant, he told me that I would end up having a c-section. Now how can he tell by looking at me and looking at the baby's father? I don't think i would so angry about living with ARD had I had the chance to labor, and if I couldn't do it, then do the c-section. I was never given that option. Oh how I wish I would have known at that time what that one surgery could do to me. I also had 3 other children by c-section as well, since the state I live in has stopped any v-bac births (vaginal birth after c-section) because there were supposedly to many women that were bleeding out and having severe problems. I truly think that it was so the doc's wouldn't miss his next golf game or something like that LOL.Ok enough rambling, hope this article makes sense and I also hope it help you learn how to deal with your ANGER.here are some websites that have more info on anger http://www.ebookpalace.com/hop/1010721537.htmlhttp://www.
alzwell.com/surviv.htmlhttp://www.alzwell.com/surviv.htmlhttp://c4isr.com/oley/lifeline/anchor.html
some of my info came from an article written byVijai P. Sharma, Ph.D
Thanks SA