Coping With Chronic Illness

If you suffer from a chronic medical condition like cancer, HIV, diabetes, asthma, or hypertension, you know how hard it can be to perform all the self-care behaviors required of you, especially if you are also dealing with depression. Studies have shown that depressed individuls with chronic illness have a hard time keeping up with the behaviors necessary to manage their condition and improve their health. The program outlined in this workbook can help you take better care of yourself while simultaneously relieving your depression. Designed to be used in conjunction with visits to a qualified mental health professional, this workbook teaches you strategies for maintaining your medical regimen. You will learn how to set up a reminder system for taking medication, plan for getting to medical appointments on time, and how to communicate effectively with your medical providers. You will also learn how to follow the advice of your treatment providers, such as adhering to certain lifestyle and dietary recommendations. These Life-Steps are essential to the program. As you begin to take better care of yourself, you will notice a decrease in your depression. In addition to these self-care skills, you will also learn how to maximize your quality of life, which is another important part of lessening your depressed feelings. Begin to re-engage in pleasurable activities and utilize relaxation techniques and breathing exercises to help you cope with stress and discomfort. Use problem-solving to successfully deal with interpersonal or situational difficulties and change your negative thought through adaptive thinking. By treatment's end you will have all the skills you need to successfully manage your illness and cope with your depression.

This valuable book combines psychological theories of health with the lived experience of coping with chronic health conditions, focusing on the "ill person" as an actor of their own development. It draws on perspectives from developmental and health psychology alongside the author’s personal experience of chronic illness. Bonino considers all aspects of living with illness, from issues that impact on everyday functioning such as pain and fatigue, to the rebuilding of identity through meaningful new goals and effective actions, and the development of therapeutic relationships. Psychological theories are interweaved with descriptions of lived encounters to center the experience of the person living alongside illness and provide insightful points of reference that everyone could try to use when facing the challenges of chronic disease in the course of their daily lives. Coping with Chronic Illness is important reading for those living with chronic health conditions, as well as for healthcare professionals looking to gain awareness of the psychological issues caused by living with illness. It is also of interest for postgraduate students of health psychology.

This book synthesizes the expanding literature on coping styles and strategies by analyzing how individuals with CID face challenges, find and use their strengths, and alter their environment to fit their life-changing realities. The book includes up-to-date information on coping with high-profile conditions, such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, arthritis, spinal cord injuries, and traumatic brain injury, in-depth coverage of HIV/AIDS, chronic pain, and severe mental illness, and more.

A pioneering book to help maximize the quality of life for chronically ill patients Written by a leading authority on chronic illness treatment and management, Managing Chronic Illness Using the Four-Phase Treatment Approach provides evidence-based practice guidelines for clinicians to help their clients with debilitating health problems embrace a new "normal," understand the cyclical nature of their illness, and function at the highest level possible. Patricia Fennell's groundbreaking model for understanding chronic illness identifies and describes four broad phases experienced by the chronically ill: crisis, stabilization, resolution, and integration. Using a broad array of case histories, Fennell vividly illustrates what clients need at each phase and how to assess and respond to them compassionately. Fennell also suggests how clinicians may best use their own changing experiences in their work to help clients transition through the four phases. The goal of the "Four-Phase Model" is to maximize a client's quality of life without offering false hope for a cure, making it an effective treatment strategy for diverse client populations, including people with physiological diseases; patients whose lives are being prolonged by modern medicine; and people who suffer from addiction, post-traumatic stress syndrome, intractable pain, and post-rape and abuse conditions. Complete with detailed treatment protocols for documenting a client's symptoms and quality of life at each phase, Managing Chronic Illness Using the Four-Phase Treatment Approach is a highly practical book for everyone working with chronically ill clients.

Health psychology is a rapidly expanding discipline at the interface of psychology and clinical medicine. This text offers a comprehensive, accessible, one-stop resource for clinical psychologists, mental health professionals and specialists in health-related matters.

A practical guide for parents who need support, ideas and resources for dealing with their child's chronic illness. Covers communicating with your child's doctor, educating yourself about your child's illness, talking to your child, schooling, and avoiding burn-out and depression.

This concise primer introduces mental health practitioners to the fundamentals of chronic heart disease. It reviews basic etiology and specific methods for assessing and treating comorbid psychological disorders.

Completely rewritten to include the most recent research and nursing strategies, the 3rd edition expands nurses' perceptions of persons with long-term health problems in a way that emphasizes patient and family power resources. The book includes nursing assessment, diagnosis, interventions, conceptual models, and related research.