You are so much more than your autoimmune diagnosis and why it matters
Has your diagnosis taken over your life?
Do you feel that your disease is what you identify with now?
Does your life revolve around your health issues?
When we get diagnosed with any disease what often happens to many of us is that the disease becomes our identity. This is especially true in the case of chronic health conditions like autoimmune diseases. Dealing with chronic health conditions takes up so much of our time and energy that our life can get really consumed by it.
Your diagnosis is NOT your identity
The health issues that we are dealing with every day can take over every aspect of our life until our very “identity” becomes inseparable from our “diagnosis”
This is something that I first became aware of when dealing with my daughter’s health issues. While her chronic and severe eczema did affect most parts of her life, I made a decision not to let it become her “life”. She is so much more than her diagnosis, her skin condition; she is a whole person.
The same goes for you!
Once you realise that you are NOT your diagnosis, you unleash the power within you to make the changes necessary to support your body’s healing capabilities.
Also, it’s not just your diagnosis. You are so much more than your career and the different roles that you play in your life as a parent, a caregiver, a daughter/sister, or a friend. You are so much more than all the qualifications, knowledge and skillsets that you have acquired over the years.
These are all important parts of who you are, yet none of these adequately define you as a person because you are so much more. Your career might change overnight, your roles might shift and your diagnosis can keep changing, yet at the very core you are very much the same person. It is only a lack of self awareness that stops us from seeing and embracing this truth.
You can work around your limitations
Once you become aware of and are able to accept who you are at the very core, you will be able to work around your limitations. Often these limitations are imposed due to the physical impact of the disease that you are dealing with. Also, the stress of living with a chronic condition has its own effect on our emotional and mental health.
Your health issues may indeed prevent you from enjoying some or many of the activities and hobbies that you were taking part in earlier. Yet, this does not mean that you need to give up doing things that bring you joy. Instead, you can explore new activities that take into account your physical and other limitations and make them a part of your life.
For eg. in my daughter’s case, as a small child, she was unable to go swimming consistently as a result of her skin condition. However, we helped her to keep exploring various options based on her interests. For her, it was her love for animals that initially drew her to horse riding. Now it’s something that is has turned into a passion for her and that she thoroughly enjoys doing at a competitive level.
Our healing is our responsibility
When we associate solely with our diagnosis, we often miss out on doing what is necessary to approach our health in a more holistic manner. We can get stuck, feel disempowered and even helpless to do anything to take charge of our healing journey.
We forget that our healing is our responsibility and goes much beyond the medication and treatment options available
Immune dysregulation lies at the heart of any autoimmune condition and anything that you will do to support your immune function will help you to deal with your health issues better. The most important thing that you need to understand is that your immune system is responding to the environment you are asking your body to live in.
When you are able to go beyond your disease diagnosis and reconnect with yourself as a “whole” person, it becomes much easier to start trusting your body. And as you become more tuned in to what your body needs, you are able to support and nourish it much more effectively.
This is where your healing journey truly begins…
It’s time we start focusing more and more on creating health rather than simply treating disease
If you are either dealing with an autoimmune condition or would like to prevent one, building a foundation that naturally repels disease is where you need to focus on.