LTI and emotional factors...are they related?

Richard Dower

I'll broaden this to any LTI, i hear people say Crohn's is "all in the head", that you're emotional state can trigger a flare up (i call BS on this), the question i'm asking is can your mind trigger an illness?

Any illness, or is it more accurate to say ANY long term illness is influenced by emotional factors, but you don't create the starting point in your head.....

....am i making sense

Odysseus

In my opinion, psychological factors can effects certain long term illness. Stress [even though I hate that term] can have a influence on peoples physical health. My mother who has cloitis, she also has a tendency to get anxious over very little things, this is usually followed by a flare up with her colitis.

The_Conductor

If you're under a lot of pressure and stress (be it in a work or personal capacity), you do tend to wear yourself down physically and emotionally, and this in turn makes you more susceptible to a flareup (or colds or flu) etc.

This isn't an emotional factor- its more a stress factor- when you're under stress, regardless of what medical condition you have, it just tends to act up.

Odysseus

smccarrick wrote: »

If you're under a lot of pressure and stress (be it in a work or personal capacity), you do tend to wear yourself down physically and emotionally, and this in turn makes you more susceptible to a flareup (or colds or flu) etc.

This isn't an emotional factor- its more a stress factor- when you're under stress, regardless of what medical condition you have, it just tends to act up.

Does stress not equate with anxiety therfore making it emotional. I hate that term stress are it often used in such a vauge way that its hard to tie it down.

The_Conductor

Odysseus wrote: »

Does stress not equate with anxiety therfore making it emotional. I hate that term stress are it often used in such a vauge way that its hard to tie it down.

You and your body can be stressed- possibly by overwork or lack of sleep- without your being fully aware of it, or feeling any unusual anxiety. It can creep up on you- when you take on more responsibilities and push yourself harder- without fully appreciating that you have have limitations that you're breaching.

The term 'stress' does get bandied about a bit too much- but it can have different meanings for different people- and indeed can manifest itself in entirely different ways too.......

_Whimsical_

I think that alot of people underestimate just how stressful having a long term illness is itself. Trying to deal with the limitations that it places on your life and then juggle all that with other peoples and societies expectations of you is very difficult. Feeling really ill on a daily basis is extremely wearing and also knowing that you have to keep your life is a constant state of balance and not get anxious over things because if you do then you'll make your condition worse is another constant concern. That concern isn't just for yourself either, it's the knowledge that you going through a bad patch can create a domino effect throughout your life and upset your family and friends and your future plans too.

It very much depends on the severity of your condition of course but at the moderate to severe end of the spectrum that's often the reality of life with an LTI if you're trying to keep the wheels on the wagon! It can then naturally follow that you might be a bit more likely to get anxious over little things because you don't always feel physically equipped to deal with them. I suppose it can be a catch 22 in that regard. Stress will make every illness a bit worse but being ill makes everything more stressful.

In terms of whether stress itself causes flare ups of illness then I'm sure it does.By stress here I mean a long time burden of worry or pressure in your life.That could be work, relationship stuff, money etc. The biochemical effects of stress on the body and immune system are well documented. Why would they not impact on a compromised body to compromise it further.I don't believe that's the same though as someones flare up of illness being caused solely by stress though. That infers that it's preventable or that the sick person bears the larger brunt of responsibility for what's an inevitable consequence of them being ill.

If you are ill it's essential to find as much balance as you can in your life and to deal with stress in the most effective way you can.You owe it to yourself and those who care about you to work on it and use any strategies you can to help. That often means totally turning your priorities on their head and living in the here and now in a way you never imagined possible when you were well. Terms like "it's all in the head" are much too prejudicial and serve no one in my opinion. They only take account of a small fraction of the reality of real life with an illness that affects you on a large scale.

BrigR

When I first got ill I got a lot of "It's all in your head" and "you had a lot of stress recently". True, I had had a lot of stress, my father was diagnosed with cancer and until the radiotherapy treatment was over I travelled to Germany every three weeks until I could travel no more. Was that stress the only reason? I don't think so, I believe that the illness would have resurfaced at some stage, but the fact that I didn't listen to my body and didn't give myself the rest I needed maybe brought it on a bit earlier.
Now I've got the first flare up since going on Methotrexate. What do I get now? "You're stressed, you poor thing, wasn't your cat killed?" Actually the flare up started before that, but it makes it easier for people around you to find a reason!
As someone else has stated before, the level of stress created by having to deal with the illness you have is worse than the stress around you!
Best wishes to everybody out there