Self-Management Of A Long-Term Chronic Illness.

So what are self-management skills?

• Recognising problems, solving them and responding to your condition should it get worse.
• Realising the importance of a healthy lifestyle and putting this into practice with regular exercise, healthy eating, stress management and good sleep patterns.
• Management of your common symptoms.
• Being able to make the decision about when to seek medical help.
• Working together with you GP, consultants and other medical staff.
• Using medications safely and effectively.
• Using community resources.
• Being open about your condition and talking to family and friends about it.
• Adapting your social activities.

These are just a few of the tools of self-management. I personally think that the most important skill when it comes to the self-management of a chronic health condition is responding to your condition on a day to day basis and solving the day to day problems. You are the person that lives with your condition 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (or 366 if it's a leap your lol) so you know your condition more than a healthcare professional who will only see you for a short period of time. This means that you must manage your condition, someone can't do it for you. 

No two people are the same and this is the same for there condition, two people may have the same condition but will function differently. This is down to how each individual manages their condition and the mindset of the individual. One person may be able to slightly minimise the effects their symptoms have on them by having a positive attitude and being focused on healthy living, but the other person may struggle with these exact same symptoms due to being solely concentrated on their condition.

What goes on in a persons mind is just as important as what is going on in their body.

Before beginning self-management it is important to understand your condition. Not just what causes the illness and the symptoms it may cause but observing how the condition and the treatments affect you as a person. You will become an expert at recognising all aspects of your illness unlike any else could ever understand and this is a great thing. Use it to your advantage.

If you find you suffer with migraines, IBS or frequent flares, could there be triggers, is there something you could change to minimise these? Keep a diary and this will help you to pin point these triggers. It's all about self management but don't be afraid to ask for help. 

That's all I'm going to say for today as it's a very bad pain day so I'm gonna self help myself into my pjs and crawl into a ball on the sofa because it's okay to do that some days! <3