Issues with chronic illness and developmental disability. Illness is short term and interferes with life briefly. Chronic illness or developmental disability is there to stay. Life becomes a confusing labyrinth in which all the rules seem new and there is no obvious way out. Many illnesses touch every aspect of life: the ability to work, relationships, emotions, dreams for the future, even the sense of who you are. And it touches the lives of everyone around too. Years ago Elisabeth Kubler-Ross identified five stages in the grieving process: denial/isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
[1] People who develop a chronic illness or are faced with a disability midway in life have to go through the grieving process. Adjusting to change takes time. The grieving process is real and has no timetable. The patience and understanding of family and friends go a long way toward showing that they care. They have to see beyond the complaints, tears and curses to see the grief of the patient and address it with care. Challenges of Chronic Illness 1) Living within Limits Serious illness imposes limits, forcing people to lead a more restricted life. Many patients respond by engaging in repeated cycles of push and crash: fighting against their limits, then collapsing in order to recover. Instead of fighting against or trying to ignore limits, they could try to set some limits and then honor them to gain some control.
[2] 2) Controlling Stress Being chronically ill adds a whole lot of new stresses to those already existing for both patients and family. Strategies to control stress include both stress reduction and stress avoidance. It needs a change in attitude to meet challenges positively. Therapy, some practices such as yoga and mediation go a long way to help people. 3) Managing Emotions Strong emotions like fear, anger, grief and depression are common reactions when illness or a debilitating accident occurs. Why me? Is the common reaction.
The Essay on Life Limiting Illness
Sam (name changed to protect confidentiality) is a nine month old boy who was born at 26 weeks and diagnosed with chronic lung disease. He was sent home on 0.3 litres (L) of oxygen per minute with the view of gradually weaning this down as he grew stronger. When I joined the community nurse visiting Sam at home, he had been weaned down to 0.1L of oxygen per minute, so was now having his time on ...
When life is disrupted and routine is replaced with uncertainty, such emotions are normal and understandable. Friends and family have to see beyond the obvious and help the patient to master emotions in a positive way. 4) Getting Support Family members and friends have to take on a great deal of work and taking care of the patient. They will have additional responsibilities while their life is getting disrupted. Both the patient and family need financial, emotional and social support of every kind. Temporary help to relieve the caregiver is a must.
5) Moving Beyond Loss Chronic illness brings with it many serious losses, so much so that it can be called the loss of the person we used to be. The pervasiveness of loss is one of the biggest challenges faced by the patient. The support system and the individual have to bring back meaning to his or her life .They have to work with therapists and self-help groups to find out how to work through loss and move beyond it to find a new meaning life in life for the patient. Bibliography [1] -Shelley Peterman Schwarz, solutions for coping with aging, chronic illness http://meetinglifeschallenges.com/articles/article _letter.php [2] -Bruce Campbell , Meeting the Challenges of Long-Term Illness, CFIDS and Fibromyalgia self-help http://www.cfidsselfhelp.org/artcl_challenges_intr o.htm.
