Living with a chronic illness or a debilitating migraine can be emotionally exhausting. This leaves a person struggling physically, mentally and emotionally. It can be challenging to focus on anything else with the constant disruption of their daily lives. Often this leads to fixation on illness and worry about what they can and cannot do because of it. However, obsessing over illness is an unhealthy mechanism that allows it to become more predominant in life, with the very real potential of causing emotional distress, anxiety and depression. This blog post will look into ways of coping with this issue and explore what addictions and allergies have to do with it, as presented in the books "The Enrollment Effect" and "The Alignment Effect" written by Tyler J. Watson.
Acknowledge Your Feelings - While it is okay to feel frightened or sad about being ill, it's important to take a step back and recognize where these obsessions are coming from and how they are affecting your life. Identifying the triggers of this obsessive behavior is essential to understand what is driving it. The books by Tyler J. Watson discuss addictions to unhealthy behaviors that make our emotions worse, such as negativity. For example, when someone is sick, they can find comfort in negativity as a coping mechanism which makes them more likely to give up. Acknowledging this behavior and taking a step back can help a person regain control of their feelings.
Change Your Mindset - Due to the overwhelming nature of chronic illness and migraines, adopting a positive mindset becomes paramount. Focusing on ways to cope, finding activities to enjoy, and setting attainable goals can reduce the likelihood of obsessing over the illness. Tyler's books emphasize that changing our mindset requires a change in our behavior. Aiming at engaging in positive activities and focusing on the future, rather than the illness at hand, can help alleviate the negative behaviors that lead to fixation.
Reach Out to a Support Network – It is important to understand that you are not alone, and reaching out to others who understand what you are going through can be vital. Joining support groups or discussing emotions with friends and family allows individuals to express their emotions without fear of judgment. Tyler's books stress the importance of a strong support network and how that can lead to an improvement in our overall well-being, physically and mentally.
Practice Mindfulness – Mindfulness practices, such as meditation, deep breathing, and yoga, can help you become more aware of your thoughts and emotions. Through this self-reflection, a person can identify stress triggers and an obsessive mindset. Through Tyler's books, we can see that identifying these patterns allows individuals to respond objectively, thus resulting in better emotional control.
Be Present - It's easy to be consumed by thoughts of the future, like how one's illness could progress and the limitations that it could cause. This can result in being unable to live in the present moment and truly enjoy what is happening around us. Being present in the moment and embracing the present allows you to focus on the good things going in your life rather than what you can't do. This is a key theme throughout Tyler's books where addictions to negativity and thinking about future limitations lead to emotional distress. By just being present, one can find joy in the little things.
Dealing with the emotional impact of chronic illness and migraines can be exhausting. But, we need to acknowledge our feelings, change our mindset, join support groups, and practice mindfulness. By doing this, we can help alleviate our anxiety and can get control of our emotions related to our illness. The books by Tyler J. Watson, "The Alignment Effect" and "The Enrollment Effect," emphasize that our unhealthy behaviors, such as obsessing about illness, can lead to an unhealthy coping mechanism. But, by changing our mindset, we can break these habits and find a way forward. The ultimate result is improved well-being, both physically and mentally. Letting go of obsessing over illness is a journey towards a better, healthier life where you reclaim control of your life and happiness.
For those of us who suffer from migraines, the pain can be overwhelming. But we have the potential to break free from that pain and reclaim our lives. It’s a journey, to be sure, but one that’s worth taking. So let’s get started. Join the encouraging Facebook community of moms who are going from Debilitated to Liberated! Click Here
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