Table of contents:
- How to love yourself when you have a chronic illness
- 1. Checking the truth
- 2. Train yourself to be grateful
- 3. Perform simple self-care
- 4. Allow yourself to express feelings
- 5. Practice accepting circumstances
Accepting the fact that having a chronic illness is not easy. There will be a lot of thoughts that you think about, why am I suffering from this, can I be cured, and various other negative thoughts that usually envelop the head. As a result, emotional conditions become disturbed and even stressed that depression can occur. In fact, emotional instability can trigger the severity of the disease you have. For that what you need to do is actually learn to love yourself and your body even in the most difficult conditions.
How to love yourself when you have a chronic illness
Here are some ways you can still love yourself when you have a chronic illness:
1. Checking the truth
When suffering from chronic diseases, there will always be symptoms that appear and are felt, ranging from pain to weakness and fatigue. At the same time a person will feel that this pain will be endured for the rest of his life. In fact, it is not uncommon for someone to feel that he will never feel better.
Though maybe the reality is not always like that. Your condition is very likely to get better with proper treatment. In Dialectical Behavior Therapy there is a practice called truth checking.
That is, you need to really check whether the assumptions you have in your mind are the same as they are today. For example, you can check by going to the doctor and asking if you really can't heal and will feel pain for life or not.
2. Train yourself to be grateful
One of the other positive things you can do to love yourself is to be grateful, no matter how difficult the conditions are. You can do this by directly saying gratitude all the time or writing down little things that make you feel better.
Getting used to being grateful trains you to accept everything that happens to you. Gratitude also helps give appreciation to your body which is always struggling with disease. Gratitude also allows you to have a better view of your body.
3. Perform simple self-care
Soaking in warm water, applying your favorite lotion, and planning a nap can be simple self-care that you can do every day.
This method can be done as a reward to the body that has been fighting against the disease you have. In addition, doing simple, fun treatments can also take your mind a little away from the illness you are suffering from.
4. Allow yourself to express feelings
There will be days when you feel worse and worse than usual. So, allow yourself to express his feelings either through crying or anger.
You don't need to hold back just to look good and not be sad. Express your feelings until you feel much better. But after that, you need to get up and rebuild the spirit that has been destroyed.
Remember, there is always a good day after a hurricane hits and you will be part of the good days to come.
5. Practice accepting circumstances
Accepting the situation does not mean that the illness is being suffered from going away and disappearing. However, this can make you come to terms with the situation.
When you can accept the situation and no longer deny it, then you will find ways to live a better and positive life even though you have a chronic disease.
You can practice these various ways to love yourself every day. Remember, when things get tougher then never lose. You have to be much stronger and fight it. Get your body to work together by giving it positive affirmations.
