A long time ago, I asked the spoonie community what helps them cope with the stress of living with a chronic illness. Here are the 12 nuggets of advice they offered from their lived experience.
- Being Stubborn
When living with a chronic illness, stubbornness can be both your best and your worst asset. On the one hand, you’re incredibly determined not to let your condition get the best of you, on the other, you tend to overdo it even on your bad days.
Still, being tenacious and having a fighting spirit can be one of the most effective ways to cope with the stress of chronic illness.
Keep on keeping on, spoonie warrior!
- Staying Active
Physical activity is an important key to coping with the stress of a chronic illness. This may seem like a contradiction because you’re too exhausted to move.
However, those living with chronic illness say that any type of physical activity, whether it be changing rooms, organizing, hanging out in the backyard, or taking a walk around the block, helps relieve feelings of helplessness while offering the satisfaction of achieving small goals.
Recommended Reading:
How to Manage Exercise When You Have a Chronic Illness
- Writing It Down
Autobiographical writing can be a very soothing and healing method of reducing the stress associated with chronic illness. Writing takes all of the images, thoughts, and fears whirling around in your head and puts them into words you can make sense of.
Journaling, writing a blog, or posting on social media are just a few ways you can relieve your stress through writing while connecting with others and showing them they are not alone.
- Crying It Out
Crying may seem counterproductive in dealing with the stress of living with a chronic illness, but it provides more comfort than you might think.
Unlike society teaches us, crying is not a sign of weakness or giving up, it’s a way to let out the pain, fear, frustration, and anger that has been building inside you for so long.
What’s more, crying has been scientifically proven to help ease feelings of stress and anxiety by releasing toxic stress chemicals.
- Using Social Media
Connecting with others who understand what you’re going through can be a lifesaver.
There is a very large and accepting group of people on social media websites such as Instagram and TikTok who continually support each other and help ease the burden of living with a chronic illness.
Look for hashtags such as, #spoonie, #spoonielife, #chronicillness, #chronicpain, and #chroniclife.
- Watching Mindless Movies
Distracting yourself from your pain can be a very healthy way to cope with the stress of living with a chronic illness.
Watching a movie you don’t have to pay attention to means you have two socially acceptable hours to stare at one fixed object, let your mind wander, and relax.
(Alternatively, you can get lost in the ridiculous plot and forget your troubles for a while.)
- Napping Like It’s Your Job
I don’t know about you, but napping is, by far, my favorite way to cope with my fatigue, anxiety, and feelings of overwhelm. When things get to be too much, I slip in my earbuds, turn on some soothing music, curl up, and take a nap.
Sleeping, like crying, is not a sign of weakness or laziness. It’s simple self-care, and it’s important to engage in it regularly.
- Setting and Accomplishing Small Goals
Another piece of useful advice I got from the spoonie community is setting small goals.
When you set small goals, you break up your activities into easy-to-manage chunks and get to enjoy that satisfying feeling of accomplishment time and time again.
This way, you resist the urge to do too much because you want to “do all the things” before a flare, or nothing at all because you’re too overwhelmed to get started.
Recommended Reading:
Helpful Apps for Those Living with a Chronic Illness
- Coloring for Stress Relief
Adult coloring has boomed in popularity, and it’s no wonder! Research has shown that, like meditation, coloring helps the brain switch off other thoughts and focus only on the task at hand.
Coloring also has the potential to reduce anxiety, bring about mindfulness, and improve overall attention and focus.
Do standard adult coloring books overwhelm you with how many hours some complicated designs take to complete?
Try Jade Summer’s coloring books. They’re simple, uncluttered, and easier to manage in one or two sittings.
Also, if hand strain is holding you back, try using egg grips on your colored pens or pencils for increased stability and less cramping.
- Looking at Calming Photos
Pinterest is a wonderful place to find calming, relaxing photos to scroll through. Look up hashtags like #nature, #sunset, and #mountains, and you’ll find thousands of boards with gorgeous images to soothe your soul and take your mind away from your troubles.
- Listening to Music
Listening to music can help improve your mood and give you a sense of well-being. It doesn’t have to just be relaxing and soothing music, either.
You can use a playlist to get your body moving in a way that feels comfortable for you, a playlist to help you cry and release pent-up emotions, or a bunch of songs you can rage to when the frustration gets too much.
- Playing Video Games
Playing video games is another fun way to distract yourself from pain for a while. Depending on what you play, video games can also help improve your memory, focus, accuracy, and confidence.
In Conclusion
Living with a chronic illness is exhausting, painful, and emotionally draining. Learning how to cope with the stress of being sick can help improve your outlook while eliminating that nagging society-induced guilt about practicing self-care.
