How to Manage your Health Condition

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Nowadays many people are wondering how can cope with difficult health conditions that are threatening their daily lives and are stealing their strengths to live. It is common to see persons who are living with chronic conditions submerged in deep wells of hopelessness, discouragement, and depression. To this frame of mind is added the great burden that means to cope with a health condition that they know it has not cure, there is only treatments and rehabilitation to do the days more comfortable in some sense.1

The darkness of the real life for many people it is not encouraging at all, and this article does not pretend to hide the reality to make it more tolerated. But as health educators, we can show you that your health condition does not define who you really are, and less who you will come to be in the future. Fortunately, there a very few conditions of health that it is not possible to prevent them because are related to genetic alterations or birth defects that would be subject to discuss in another opportunity.1,2

The most common chronic diseases are related to the lifestyles, they are the way how the people live their life daily, the nutritional, physical, and psychological habits that could predispose to the individual to be ill or not, whether the habits are healthy or unhealthy will depend in the majority of cases of the knowledge that people have about preventing these diseases. But, why the diseases which are related to unhealthy lifestyles are on a certain way more ease to address, this is, because their incidence will depend on of the people willingness for preventing them.2

How is it possible that people can prevent diseases? People will prevent diseases to the extent they learn the know-how to avoid risky behaviors, and as result, they will develop the self-awareness, self-efficacy, and self-confidence to put into practice healthy habits. People will be more efficient in the improvement of unhealthy lifestyles to the extent they can obtain positive results at a short time, but the degree of successful will depend on of the time, efforts and willingness that they spent on the process.1,2

It is not easy to try to change unhealthy habits of people, many of them recognize that something wrong is happening with them, but they do not have enough awareness of prevention to take at least the first step to change. The latest evidence about what really works to prevent chronic diseases or chronic health conditions is that at least 85% of the cases could be prevented, some researchers are agreed that the prevention has demonstrated to be effective in delay the onset of chronic diseases and even their appearance in people with a high predisposition to develop them.1,2

Many researchers recommend that it is preferable to prevent the health condition than treat it, doing so; we can prevent harmful consequences of unhealthy lifestyles. For this reason, many health campaigns are carried out to raising people awareness to change beliefs, attitudes, and paradigms towards chronic diseases for finally improve behaviors getting the long-awaited quality of life. 2,3

Moreover, what would be the approach for people who are living with a health condition at this moment and have to cope with the frustration, sadness, and discouragement to face these conditions daily, as first step it is important to assume that the diseases will never define who the individual is (without underestimating the complexity of the health condition but, it would be of great help do not maximize the health conditions to facilitate their treatment and rehabilitation) and neither will define the person's value at the end.

It means that the individuals need to make certain changes to adapt to health conditions, taking the control of their own lives to get strengths and keep moving forward, for instance, if the health condition is type 2 diabetes the individual need to be organized with his/her time to measure their concentrations of blood glucose and apply the treatment opportunely. It is something more to add to the list of chores per day, with discipline, dedication, and effort; many people achieve to live a productive life having into account their constant surveillance over themselves, but above all keeping in mind that their value it is not defined by their health conditions or even their circumstances.1,2

To live with a health condition it has become in a lifestyle for many people and it is not already conceived the word disease, because they are part of the daily life of the individual, and is normal that some people have it.1 Persons who are living with health conditions need to be supported by social groups, family meetings, and counseling sessions, to ensure the success of the process of adaptation.1,3

Some authors recommend that to deal with these challenges it is recommendable that people develop their faith and spirituality, it has evidenced that people who have faith are more positive, their attitude towards the life is different, always with hope and enthusiasm.3 These changes of attitude will determine the degree of success taking control of living situations raising their self-esteem. At the extent individuals take responsibility for their own health condition changing risky habits, improving their own environment, and self-controlling their emotions will be effective to live with a health condition.3

Unavoidably we are living an aging process, it is impossible to prevent that everyone of us have to go through to this path, but what it is really under our control is our attitude towards the life, we can choose to see the glass half full or half empty, this perception will depend on of you, one thing is for sure, if you have good attitude toward your health condition and take your time to be better even during your challenges, you will be a winner, because the life it is not about of triumphs only, it is to remain during the difficulties and enjoy even in the middle of the storm.

References

1. Royal College of Psychiatrists. Coping with physical illness. http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/healthadvice/problemsdisorders/copingwithphysicalillness.aspx. Published 2017. Accessed February 18, 2017.

2. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention. Coping With Stress. https://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/pub/coping_with_stress_tips.htmlPublished 2016. Accessed February 18, 2017.

3. Family Doctor. Spirituality and Health. https://familydoctor.org/spirituality-and-health/. Published 2016. Accessed February 18, 2017.

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