Revolutionary Way to Be Healthy, #6: Redefine Your Role

There's something about illness and injury that messes not just with your body, but with your whole sense of identity. And the longer and more profoundly you're oppressed by physical limitations, the more vulnerable and disempowered you can feel. If you throw your back out or break your leg, you'll immediately experience the reality shift that comes with significant physical limitation. And if you've ever suffered a high fever or a bout of food poisoning, you know that's all it takes to turn a confident and competent adult into a helpless, whimpering child. Any acute illness or injury can smack you down in ways that temporarily mess with your head. But with a chronic illness or condition -- Type 2 diabetes, heart disease, cancer, depression, irritable bowel, psoriasis, any autoimmune problem -- the effect is more nuanced, and in some ways, more diabolical. It's like a dysmorphic disorder in which you come to see and feel yourself as altered, often in disturbing ways. Being ill can make you feel like damaged goods. It can limit your productivity and capacity to contribute and accomplish what you normally do. It can make you more vulnerable and dependent on others for help, support, and understanding. In some very real ways, being even marginally unwell for a period of time -- or just receiving a medical diagnosis -- can radically change how you show up in the world. But perhaps the bigger issue is that any illness requiring ongoing medical intervention can easily turn you...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news