My Arthritic Therapy

   Dealing with arthritis can be a rollercoaster of emotions. One day you feel great and no pain. You can do everything you need to do, without pain. The next day you can barely get out of bed. It can mess with your emotions as well as your body. It can make you feel sad, angry or hopeless. 

     In my case, I have a chronic condition which means it is never going away. I can manage it with medication, physical therapy and diet. However, finding the balance that stops or minimizes the pain and damage to my body, is an ongoing process. It is a long, drawn out, and infuriating process. Everytime my health issues limit my mobility or causes me so much pain I end up going to the hospital. It can make me feel depressed and hopeless. 

     This is why I have a therapist that I talk to multiple times a month. So when I tried talking to friends who have similar issues, it becomes a contest. So I either get an comparison, the person down plays my complaint with their horror story of their pain. Or, I get no sympathy because the have a worse case of Arthritic pain and they push through, so I am being a big baby about the pain. 

     So my therapist doesn't judge me. He just listens and reminds me that I have the right to my own feelings about my pain. He then redirects me to focus on what I can do while I deal with the reality of the situation. He tells me dwelling on my sadness over something I can't change, now will only make me stressed. I am telling all this because having a chronic illness can make you emotional and having a therapist can help.