Building Self-Esteem When Your Body Betrays You


Chronic illness can impact your self-worth. In my new post for Mango Health, I write about how this happens and what you can do to build self-esteem:

 "Your body is supposed to work with you. More than that, it should do what you want, smoothly and efficiently following the electrical impulses from your brain. It is the one thing in which you can have total confidence; the one thing that will never abandon you.

Except when you have a chronic illness or other medical condition. All of a sudden, your body is working against you, refusing to do what you want, and moving in a way that is anything but effortless. It is devastating. Instead of being able to rely on yourself, part of who you are abandons ship just when you need it most. It can feel like the ultimate betrayal.

A sense of self-worth is based in your image of yourself. When that image becomes fractured and broken, so does your self-esteem. When your illness affects your ability to do your job, be there for your loved ones, or heartbreakingly, even lift your toddler, how can you have any worth? And so, your self-esteem spirals down, making it that much harder to cope."

 Read more about building self-esteem with chronic illness on the Mango Health blog.
 

Comments

Rick Phillips said…
Al Frankin was one of my favorite characters on SNL. I adored Stuart. I have not thought of it in years. Thanks for the great memory.

I do believe that with RA our body tends to betray us. I need less betrayal and more body acceptance.
10:00 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Farber’s Disease: Could Your Child’s Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis Be Misdiagnosed?

Image
Joint inflammation or contractures. Nodules (small lumps under the skin or in other tissues). A weakened or hoarse voice. Children with these symptoms may have been diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) or other types of juvenile arthritis . But do they actually have JIA or do they have Farber’s disease? An equine digression When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras. This is an adage in the medical world that encourages doctors to not wander off exploring rare and esoteric reasons for a patient’s symptoms. Because most of the time, that hoof beat of a rash likely isn’t the plague, the joint pain more likely a type of arthritis than the bends (especially if the person has never scuba dived) and you get the picture. But once in a while, it actually is a zebra. And even if it’s first identified as a horse, eventually, the stripes come through. It took five years of my parents running around to different doctors before one finally recognized that I had...
Read more

A Short Interruption

Image
Looking for more posts? You can now find me on the brand new The Seated View website .   I’m beginning to wonder if the so far two-month long Fibro flare is going to be the new normal, at least (hopefully) for the duration of the winter. I’m not enjoying it. Aside from the really high pain levels and decimated energy, there is also the intensely excessive brain fog. I’m surprised I can remember my own name at times. So much is falling through the cracks. Of course, this happens in the middle of trying to finish some things for HealthCentral that I should have done last year (see: my health is in the toilet), a ridiculous number of medical appointments, a couple of big projects on my own plate, plus a small upgrade of The Seated View. And then yesterday, my elbow crapped out to the point where it’s hard to use my arm. Did I mention this was my driving arm, my writing arm, and well… my everything arm? I am so done with this winter. I mean, Christmas is over...
Read more