Sunday 5 February 2012

It is NOT all in the mind!

Reading back my last few blogs I want to emphasise a point I think might not be clear. . . . I do not think that everyone with a long-term condition is 'faking it' nor am I suggesting that 'it is all in the mind'. It most defiantly is not. As with many patients, I have been diagnosed with clinically recognised physical conditions. There are pages and pages of doctors notes from in patient stays and out patient appointments that strongly support proven medical conditions. One suggestion that I was to be referred to a psychiatrist resulted in anger from me, feeling dismissed and let down by the doctors.

I have now come to realise that with any long term condition that requires lifestyle adjustments or any amount of time chasing doctors,picking up prescriptions and managing symptoms is going to have some effect on one's mental health. The illness itself and its associated stresses will have an effect on mental well being.

Addressing these issues is not saying it is going to cure the condition. It won't. But with so many of these long term conditions lacking effective treatment, anything that removes a small layer of it must be worth pursuing, yes?

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