by Lorelei Cohen

Created on: January 30, 2009   Last Updated: May 21, 2009

A chronic illness can strike anyone at any age. One day you are normal and the next you wake up to find yourself living in a body that you no longer recognize as your own. You are a new person and the body that you exist in no longer functions as it always had. The commands that you give your body now go unanswered, you have changed, and there is no stepping back into the past. You realize that the person that you used to be is gone and that you now live with an illness that is likely to remain with you for the rest of your life.

A chronic illness is exactly that; an illness that is always there, an illness that is probably not going to go away, and an illness that now exists with you every minute of every day. It is there when you wake in the morning and it will be with you when you go to bed at night. It controls every decision that you make throughout your day, because each choice that you make that day, will affect the future outcomes of the illness.

Psychologically being diagnosed with a chronic illness can be devastating, not only on the person who suffers from it's ill effects, but also on all the individuals that it affects. Chronic illness affects everyone within the family unit, as well as friends, and acquaintances. It often alters a person's ability to function on a physical or emotional level. It can affect their ability to be independent, to earn a viable living, or to maintain current relationships. These changes can also often lead to frustration and depression. It is therefore very important to have a chronic illness management plan in effect, or to in effect have psychological strategies in place to understand, and combat these emotional changes.

You are not the same person that you were previously and it is a very normal process to grieve for the aspects of yourself that you have lost. It takes time to discover, and to appreciate, the new person that you have become. As a child you had to expose yourself to a variety of experiences and emotions to learn exactly who you were, what things in life you enjoyed, and what things you did not. You discovered your strengths, and your weaknesses, and you learned how to optimumly enjoy life being who you were born to be. Well when you adjust to living with a chronic illness, you step down, and begin these learning processes once again. You test what you are able to do and what you are not able to do. You rediscover your weaknesses, and your strengths, and you learn to effectively live again with

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