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Effective coping strategies for dealing with chronic illness
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Having someone to share the ups and downs of living with chronic illness can help make it easier to bear. You know you're not alone. Even if the person you're connecting with is hundreds of miles away, you know when you talk to her, you're really being heard. That's what I like about chronic illness memes. They're like a friend who's "been there", and they're as varied as the people who create them. Like friends, some uplift, some inform, some snark, and some make you laugh. Here are 20 of my favorite chronic illness memes. Chronic Illness Pain Scale chronic_illness_pain_scale When the traditional 'pain scale' chart just isn't cutting it, there's this. Print it out and take it to your doctor's office. They just …show more content…
might learn something over there! "Want to Hang Out?" did_a_thing_yesterday A funny, to-the-point chronic illness meme that explains to your friends why you can't go out again today.
Nope nope The perfect response for anything a spoonie does not currently have the spoons to do. "Good day, Sir!" "This is a compliment...I think." this_is_a_compliment Some compliments make you feel like smacking people. This owl is here to remind you to take a few deep breaths and smile through the irritation. "You don't LOOK sick!" you_dont_look_sick I'm sorry I don't look sick. I'll try harder. ::eyeroll:: Faking Being Well faking_being_well This chronic illness meme explains just how many people have it totally backwards! Looking for Attention hide_how_sick Again. No. I don't want attention. Validation and understanding would be nice, though. The Pain Doesn't Go Away make_room It's difficult for people in good health to understand how much pain a person can actually be in and still be alive. "It's all in your head!" prove_how_sick A person living with a chronic illness of any kind is not obligated to prove themselves to you. "There's nothing wrong with
you." nothing_wrong_with_your_thyroid Of course, there's nothing wrong with me. I just swallowed a bunch of golf balls that got stuck in my throat! The Chronic Life the_chronic_life This chronic illness meme offers strength and hope in the face of extraordinary adversity. It's also validating and empowering. "Today will be the day!" never_mind_cute_turtle Let's face it, there are days when you just are this turtle. "Well, that's ironic." dry_mouth_overactive_bladder When the effects of your medication are mostly side effects. Social Events for Spoonies social_events_are_draining This meme perfectly describes the toll an evening out can take on a person with an invisible illness. Naps Are Essential need_a_nap You will never know what it is to be truly sick until the simple act of cleaning yourself drains all your energy. Two Things still_standing For every funny and ironic meme, there is an inspirational meme to pick you back up when you feel like you've been flattened by a steamroller. Brilliant Mind? brilliant_mind_depression Not all invisible illnesses are physical. What PTSD is Really Like complex_PTSD Yes, post-traumatic stress disorder is every bit as real as the trauma that caused it. Being Bullied by Doctors is Common gloves_off No matter what type of invisible condition you have, doctors can be bullies. It's very important to acknowledge this fact and spare those living with chronic illness further trauma. Nice Try, Laundry nice_try_laundry If you need a couple of hours of rest before you fold the laundry, just shove the clothes aside and take a nap. No explanation necessary. Do you have a favorite invisible illness meme? 'Like' the I Told You I Was Sick Facebook page, and share it with us! You can also join a small but active community of people with chronic illness by visiting our I Told You I Was Sick Chronic Pain Support Group and sharing your memes, feelings, and experiences there. See also: 10 Things You’d Never Say to Someone in a Wheelchair (But People With Invisible Illness Hear All the Time) How to Treat a Person With Chronic Illness - A Step-By-Step Guide Join the Mailing List Get Your FREE e-Book, “Strange Symptoms: Why You’re Always Sick and What You Can Do About It” ($20 Value)
… The doctors present agreed that there is no objective way of measuring or judging the claims of patients that their suffering is unbearable. And if it is difficult to measure suffering, how much more difficult to determine the value of a patient's statement that her life is not worth living?
Pain is something that several Americans suffer from on a daily basis for varying reasons.
or her life due to excruciating pain, he or she should have the ability to
When it comes to a bad diagnosis it is often difficult for doctors to tell their patients this devastating news. The doctor will likely hold back from telling the patient the whole truth about their health because they believe the patient will become depressed. However, Schwartz argues that telling the patient the whole truth about their illness will cause depression and anxiety, but rather telling the patient the whole truth will empower and motivate the patient to make the most of their days. Many doctors will often also prescribe or offer treatment that will likely not help their health, but the doctors do so to make patients feel as though their may be a solution to the problem as they are unaware to the limited number of days they may have left. In comparison, people who are aware there is no cure to their diagnosis and many choose to live their last days not in the hospital or pain free from medications without a treatment holding them back. They can choose to live their last days with their family and will have more time and awareness to handle a will. Schwartz argues the importance of telling patients the truth about their diagnosis and communicating the person’s likely amount of time left as it will affect how the patient chooses to live their limited
Good Evening! I’m standing up here tonight, pretty boastful I have to admit, of my brother, Bobo, and his bride Twiggy. I have come to sing their praises, and if I happen to embarrass either one of them in the process, I apologize right now!
James Rachel’s explains in his 1986 work The End of Life: Euthanasia and Morality that when death is the only escape from chronic and overbearing pain, it is justifiable to partake in or help someone achieve, assisted suicide (Rachels 312). What types of things cause ‘chronic and overbearing’ pain? Cancers, end-stage diseases, physical traumas, mental and emotional overwhelming pain; most people think that these types of abnormalities will affect older individuals, and for most situations, that is true. Yet, what can be done for the eight year old that is suffering from a neuromuscular disease? She has the mentality and emotional response of a toddler and she has never developed fully to enjoy life. Now she has come into the hospital and is only ‘liv...
To provide the best care for their elderly patients, nurses must incorporate pain assessment into their daily care of patients. Pain assessment is a key aspect of the nurse’s role. There are many factors to consider when assessing patients’ pain such as if they are verbal or non-verbal, what language they speak, their age and their cultural background. There are many tools that a nurse can use to assess a patient’s pain but one of the most common tools is the 0-10 scale. This tool can be asked verbally by asking what their pain level is on a scale of 0 to 10 with 0 being no pain and 10 being the worst pain they have ever had. You may also use this tool in a visual manner with faces that correlate to the numbers. 0 being a happy face and 10 being a very sad face. Elderly patients from diverse cultural backgrounds are increasing in long term care facilities so it is important to have a 0 – 10 pain scale written in their native language. Some patients are stoic and do not express their pain as much as other people so it is important to understand that a 0 – 10 pain scale might not always be sufficient and could be combined with observing any physical signs that the patient might be in pain such as facial expressions and guarding. Nurses must have a good base of knowledge and attitude towards pain and always take what the patient reports their pain scale to be as truth. If the patient does report pain it would be important to treat the pain or if it is a new occurrence to follow this assessment up with another val...
...amount of pain) is a great teaching tool for the patient who is able to self-report (Nevius & D’Arcy, 2008). This will put the patient and nurse on the same level of understanding regarding the patient’s pain. The patient should also be aware of the added information included with the pain scale: quality, duration, and location of the pain. During patient teaching, it should be noted that obtaining a zero out of ten on the pain scale is not always attainable after a painful procedure. A realistic pain management goal can be set by the patient for his pain level each day.
In Ken Murray's essay, "How Doctors Die", the author discusses and informs the reader about how the seemingly unusual way doctors spend the last few months or so of their lives compared to the rest of America. Murray informs the reader about how truly different they handle the situation. ”What’s unusual about them (doctors) is not how much treatment they get compared to most Americans, but how little.” This just shows how most people, when they find out they have a life threatening illness or disorder, will ask for whatever is possible to be done so that they may live. But for when doctors in most cases first learn of a life threatening issue they have, they just accept it. They do not ask for the most extreme measures to be taken,
“The greatest evil is physical pain.” Saint Augustine understood that experiencing pain is horrific, and most would agree. However, it is perhaps emotional pain, rather than physical, that causes the most damage. Whether physical or emotional, painful experiences are upsetting at best, and in severe cases, they can be life-changing. Pain is a feeling of distress that is often an underlying problem or symptom of an illness.
Mental diseases affect a person’s motivation and will. Illnesses of the mind can make activities that were once fun and enjoyable the complete opposite. Most people diagnosed with mental disorders become more anxious when doing certain things, have completely lost interest in what used to be preferred, become too paranoid to relax, etc. Interests and priorities seemingly change. This also brings conflict into daily routines and sets off a chain reaction in one’s life. Their normal routines are then replaced with ones that involve medications and the constant reminder of dosages, times, amounts, side effects, etc. When someone’s routines are affected, this can wreak havoc on more than just the victim of the disease. Friends, family members, jobs, and even pets have to adapt. More than that, this chain reaction can possibly trigger someone during
Ferrell, B., Levy, M. H., & Paice, J. (2008). Managing pain from advanced cancer in the
There are many ways to categorize illness and disease; one of the most common is chronic illness. Many chronic illnesses have been related to altered health maintenance hypertension and cardiovascular diseases are associated with diet and stress, deficient in exercise, tobacco use, and obesity (Craven 2009). Some researchers define the chronic illness as diseases which have long duration and generally slow development (WHO 2013); it usually takes 6 month or longer than 6 month, and often for the person's life. It has a sluggish onset and eras of reduction for vanishing the symptoms and exacerbation for reappear the symptoms. Some of chronic illness can be directly life-threatening. Others remain over time and need intensive management, such as diabetes, so chronic illness affects physical, emotional, logical, occupational, social, or spiritual functioning. Chronic diseases, such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes, all of these diseases are the cause of mortality in the world, representing 63% of all deaths. So a chronic illness can be stressful and may change the way a person l...
Sociology of Health and Illness The sociological approaches focus on identifying the two sociological theories. We critically analysed the biomedical model and doctor-patient relationship. We also evaluated how the medical professionals exercise social control and the medical professional’s contribution to ill health. The difference between society and health is studied by sociologists in relation to health and illness.
It is possible for a person to be both healthy and unhealthy at the same time. This paradigm is possible because of the different types of contexts that health is used with. So, what factors influence the different types of meaning that people associate with health? The meaning of health changes based on whether the connotative or denotative meaning is used and what schema is/are associated with it.