How my chronic illnesses affect my everyday life

06/19/24 • 62 min

Emotional Autoimmunity: Dealing with the emotional issues of chronic illness

Today (June 19th, 2024) marks 4 years since my Type 1 diabetes diagnosis which makes this the perfect time to talk about how my chronic illnesses affect my everyday life.
In this podcast I open up about each of my 4 different autoimmune diseases, the impact they have on me, what's changed what ongoing issues I still have and how I deal with them.
This includes how it's affected my sleep, diet, social life, friendships, relationships and the many ways in which it has changed my life.
I also share a peek into my daily chronic illness management, my health goals, typical medical administration and what life is generally like for me.
As always, I am not a medical doctor and the way in which I choose to manage my illness is what works best for me. There is no "one" way to manage chronic illness and we all need to find our way and what works best for us.
The audio recording cut out at the end but all you are missing is my usual "bye for now."

Kerry Jeffery is a Coach, Counsellor and Clinical Hypnotherapist helping clients all around the world to overcome the emotional issues of living with chronic illness.
She lives in Melbourne, Australia along with Hashimoto's, Celiac, Antiphospholipid Syndrome and Type 1 Diabetes.
Find out more about Kerry and her Therapy programs here.
Book your FREE online Discovery Session with Kerry here.
Follow Kerry for daily posts on Facebook here.

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Previous Episode

Why this isn't a 'you' thing.

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One of the big, missing pieces in supporting people with chronic illness is that there is so little acknowledgment that becoming chronically ill changes peoples lives and that this creates complex emotional issues that are in fact, completely normal.
The typical experience is that you get your diagnosis (or not) and leave the doctors office with no idea what to do next and how to even start to cope with how much your life and self have changed and no recognition of just how lost, confused, afraid and overwhelmed you are feeling.
The one thing I see consistently with every single client is a mistaken belief that this is a 'me' thing and not an 'everybody' thing.
That there is something lacking in me whether it's that I am not strong enough, determined enough or resilient enough to cope with this or that I am too weak, too needy, too confused or just too much to deal with.
All of this is reinforced because most people don't understand the normal emotional reactions to becoming chronically ill and judge, criticise and blame, which leaves you feeling even worse about yourself.
So if you have ever worried that this is a 'you' thing and that everyone else is coping much better with chronic illness than you, this will help you understand why you feel that way and how to change it.

Next Episode

Ask Kerry: Questions and answers about the emotional issues of chronic illness

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In this episode I answer questions from my chronic illness community including:
Can you speak to the cost of the unique stressors in chronic illness including not being able to trust the guidance of doctors, trying to resolve health problems alone and how do you cope when taking expert advice goes badly for you?
How do you revise your story of self, worth and identity when illness has stripped it away?
and
Are your Discovery Sessions or services some kind of scam?
You asked, I answered so lets get into all the complexities, challenges and potential solutions together.