If you have ever tried talking to your partner, friends or family about your chronic illness and why it’s changed you and what you can and can’t do now, then you know exactly how difficult and frustrating it can be.
People just don’t listen. People try to make you feel like you are constantly whinging or exaggerating the symptoms or using it as an excuse to not do things you don’t want to do.
When people don’t seem to want to listen or put you down for trying to get support and understanding, it can leave you thinking that there is no point talking about it at all.
So you give up and feel even more isolated and alone.
Then there is the other side of the conversation: What do you say when you are the partner or friend or family member of someone who has chronic illness?
How can you offer them support and empathy and a safe space to vent when you just don’t even know what to do or say to help them?
There is a way to talk about your chronic illness that will give you the best possible chance of being heard and understood AND there is a way to listen and help someone living with chronic illness in a way that will make you feel that you are actually helping and comforting them.
It’s all here in this video.
Step by step, I will walk you through the process, break down the skills and give you the best tips I know to clearly communicate how you feel and to be able to listen without feeling the pressure to “solve the problem.”
If you have any questions after watching the video, head on over to my Facebook page: Emotional Autoimmunity and send me a message.
Once you have the right strategies, you can feel more supported, understood and connected that you believed possible.
best wishes
Kerry
Are you really being a “whiny baby”?