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Very interesting article. I am seeing a clinical phycologist myself after being refered by my GP.I am finding it very beneficial.
I’m glad it’s helping. I saw a counselor for the first two years after diagnosis. I always say I wish she had understood more about RA, but it still helped to deal with the grief & shock of sudden disabilty and prognosis. It’s a very big adjustment from active take-charge life to needing so much help.
I for one have indeed had a panic attack. I lost several people in my family in a span of 1 year and we believe it just threw my state into overtime. It took about years worth of xanax, bio feedback training and implementaion & talk therapy to get through it all. Only to find out I am suffering from PTSD brought on by violence in my family when I was 8 years young. I no longer have panic attacks or anxiety but have been dealing with the effects of PTSD. THat coupled with two Auto-Immune Disorders and a host of other issues, it can be tricky staying on the right side of depression. I’ve never dealt with it yet but I have watched others suffer with it. It gives me a helpless feeling for them. I just want to make them feel safe and secure again. I know that sometimes, just listening is all they need. More attention needs to be brought to the depression/anxiety phenom with chronic illnesses. I think the stigma in society far outweighs the actualities of the two issues. People can be very cruel and say horrible things to others and they go unchecked. It doesn’t help those who suffer with it.
Tazzy, Thank you for sharing. I’m glad you found a way to work through it. Yes, we need greater awareness – I agree there is too much cruelty & too little understanding.
Kelly ive been so depressed lately i cant tell you how much. I know i suffer from PTSD but cant do anything about it. I told my rheumy about it and she said Find a Psych. Ive seen them before and they dont help. I have what i call a heart attack at least once a week. It feels like a heart attack! Always starts in my throat and then goes to my chest,back arm etc..the longest one was 20 minutes. It hurts so badley..Ive had 2 heart decaterters tests and its not my heart. Im so worn out with all of this. Ive tried to stay away from your site trying to kid myself that im ok..Doesnt work. Ive had a hard life and this is not fair. But nobody told me life would be fair. Thought after all this time i had found the right medicines to help this but i guess not. Dont have anything positive to say today so thats that. Still so appreciate all that you do. Just having a hard time lately…thanks Kelly
I’m SO sorry Judi. That sounds so hard. Do they think it is an anxiety attack? Did they give you any medication for that? It is important to rule out heart issues too with RA. The hard part is that the psych doc AND the cardio doc have to know about RA and how it’s affecting you to consider all options & hopefully communicate with your rheum doc too. I’m so sorry you have had so much hardship – if you can find a good counselor who knows what’s going on with your health, it could help you – even if someone you saw before did not help. They are all different, just like patients – they are just people.
I am so thankful to have such a caring rheumatologist. I was able to talk to her about some feelings I was experiencing and she recommended I see a counselor immediately. I didn’t realize how deep a pit I had dug myself into until I began sessions. The great thing is that my counselor has given me “coping skills” to help with my daily life and situations and my life is so much better. Don’t ever be embarrassed or afraid to go and talk to someone. I found it much easier to express my fears, etc to someone who wouldn’t “judge” me.
Great comments Teresa. Thanks. I’m so glad you took that step. 😀
Many of us with RA fight depression as a result of chronic pain. I have a mood disorder and I take an antiseizure medication called Lamictal. I have tried to take Enbrel for RA and it interfered with the Lamictal – central nervous system clash of the titans of some sort.
Has anyone on the website discussed the challenge of how RA meds upset the balance of depression meds that affect the control the nervous system for mood stabilization?
Mrs. Ramos
I found myself needing the help of a counselor in the first years of my diagnosis(AS) too. It took me a long time to go through the stages of loss because that is what happens to us. Now that I’ve lived with Ankylosing Spondylitis for many years I’ve accepted it is part of who I am – as much as that is really possible 🙂 I would encourage newly diagnosed people to look for a support group in your local town. The SAA and the Arthritis Foundation offer many groups – and then there is the online support like RA Warrior and others that are invaluable. It will get easier to deal with… Jenna
Thanks Jenna. We do have a local support page here and on Facebook that has helped lots of patients to link up.
I am both a Rheumatoid Arthritis warrior and a Bipolar Disorder type II warrior. I currently blog weekly for BP Hope magazine (Bipolar disorder I & II) plan to cover the topic of how one chronic illness incites the other to create a hamsters wheel of emotional chaos. I face it every single day…Feel free to check it out. I want to use any platform I can to share our struggle. I’m sure many of my RA warriors here are championing both and I send you warm cyber hugs.
http://bphope.com/bphopeblog/post/Princess-Leia-the-Bipolar-Warrior.aspx
My friend has been suffering from a chronic degenerative autoimmune disorder with no established treatment protocol for the past 8 years. She has severe pain and fatigue caused by peripheral neuropathy. She spent the last year providing hospice care to her mother who recently passed away. She is now deeply depressed and despairing. She is struggling to make it through each day. I live far from her. What can I do? What can she do?
Hi Kelly its been awhile.. i just found my post from over a year ago talking about my depression and anxiety. Well i still havent done anything about it. The “heart attacks”come more now and hurt worse. I dont know why i wont see someone but i just havnet done it. i think really the pain is from a condition i read about where the muscle tears from the chest bone? I dont know. My husband says,Judi you’ve been doing this for 10 Years! Yeah i know.Still cant make myself do anything about it. oh well..I know im not alone. At the same time i am…
I too am so anxious about dying from RA. I read that with or without treatment we die 20 years earlier than average. So nearly every night I go to bed wondering if I will die tonight; I am 61 so am at the 20 year mark for early death. It is so frustrating because no one else seems to understand that sore joints don’t kill us; heart disease does.
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After 11 years, I think I mostly get frustrated. Took 10 years to accept the fact that I have RD, I guess because I am seronegative. For instance, today I wanted to clean house. I worked until my back, shoulder, and hands were in spasms. Now I will pay and pay dearly. Yes, frustrated is my word of the day. My mind says yes and body says NO! Again, thank you for this site. I pray for you warriors every day. ❤ You make me feel less crazy☺
I too have been diagnosed with RA I’ve tried two different times to take the methotrexate injections I am going to go to the pills next week I have had a lot of side effects and I’ve been treated for depression for a long while. I could swear that I’m going through menopause again because now I feel panicky for heat flashes and so many mixed emotions. I do not like the person I have become but some days are better I am relieved that I am not alone in this. My doctor doesn’t take me seriously about needing relief from this my present anti depression medicine is not working
Very succinct.
I loved this article . I have been dx with RA, PsA, probable Lupus and I had a pleural effusion and constant chest pain and chronic shortness of breath. I also have Reaynauds disease . Another dx of fishnet like rash on both legs. On methotrxate and remicade .