Most people and medical professionals seem to have a very narrow understanding of how a person’s emotional state can negatively impact their health, and this is especially true for someone living with chronic illness. What may be a situation that is upsetting for a healthy person, perhaps even causing lack of appetite, nausea, diarrhea or other various stress-related physical symptoms, in a person with chronic illness can wreck havoc! Usually a person with a healthy body can still function and get through what they have to do in the day, work, care for children, etc. even through times of heavy life stress, yes they certainly may be loosing some sleep, and suffering with a few various physical manifestations of the stress, however for a person with chronic illness, additional life stress can mean the difference between being able to function through a day or not.
In the past, when life has had me up against the ropes and I have been suffering through great life stress, it may mean that my body becomes so affected I struggle to even complete basic life tasks like preparing food for myself, getting a shower, doing the dishes, letting my dog go out to the bathroom. I often experience severe physical Stanton’s when my body is over-loaded with stress like, muscle spasms, neuropathy and nerve pain, migraines, heart palpitations, asthma flares, dizziness, nausea, vomiting… it can be very dramatic and my body can be thrown off balances for days on end!
Life without stress is impossible, but be sure you learn to adapt good stress-reduction techniques in your daily life like writing, meditation, exercise, hot/cold training, laughing, singing, and dancing help too!
So no, our emotional state is not causing our chronic illness, but our emotional state can certainly make our chronic illness worse!
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