It's Okay to Seek Help

I am about to be incredibly blunt and speak my mind about a subject that has been brought up recently amongst some of my KT colleagues. The subject in which I am going to touch upon is that of chronic illness and depression/other mental illnesses. Now, there is no denying that the two are somewhat synonymous; there is ample research to support this claim. We are humans and we feel, if we didn't then we wouldn't be human. In fact, if someone came to me and said they have had 20 surgeries and deal with chronic pain on a daily basis but experience no negative emotions whatsoever, I would find that to be concerning... More concerning than if they came to me and said that sometimes they feel down and depressed. Why? After the body experiences a certain level of trauma, it is only natural to experience those kinds of negative feelings. Not to mention that chronic pain does impact the chemistry of the brain and can absolutely play a role in triggering depression/anxiety/etc. The good news, however, is that ample studies show that this damage can be reversed with proper treatment (cognitive behavioral therapy, for example).

Here is where it gets tricky, however. How do you decipher between an appropriate response to a chronic illness and actual mental illness? The lines can be incredibly blurry, and it can be confusing for even us ourselves to know the difference, not to mention our friends and loved ones. That is why I am not going to delve into the topic of possible medication for people experiencing pronounced symptoms of depression and anxiety in this post. I do not have the expertise to do so; I only have my own experiences to go off of and that can potentially be another story for another time.

All I know is this; there is no shame in seeking help, and cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to be effective in a multitude of cases. Sometimes this is supplemented with medication, other times it is not (it is, of course, dependent upon the patient's specific case). Either way, it cannot hurt and can only benefit the person seeking help. We live our lives as best as possible, but the abnormality we face due to our condition does indeed impact us. Everything within our environment impacts us, and sometimes we need an unbiased source to give us guided, professional advice.

There is no shame in seeking help or talking to somebody. Everything I wrote above stems from my experiences/own views/research but I understand I still have a great deal to learn in regards to chronic illness and deciphering between an appropriate response and mental illness. Feel free to weigh in with your own views in the comment section, I would love to read them! As a future psychologist, reading this stuff is like candy for me ( : ! - A