Archive for the ‘Psychological Aspects’ Category

Healing Power of Gratitude

https://www.lymedisease.org/touchedbylyme-gratitude-ornaments-rachel/

TOUCHED BY LYME: The healing power of gratitude ornaments
The following is republished from my blog last year. It has been updated slightly.

Guest blog by Rachel Leland

In November of 2015, I was in month six of what ended up being 13 months of intense mold treatment (on top of Lyme treatment).

I wasn’t allowed to even step foot inside any building that hadn’t been cleared for mold. No shopping malls, no movie theaters, not even a grocery store.

I was a prisoner in my apartment and I didn’t like it one bit. At that time, I could easily list off all the things going wrong in my life—and was hard-pressed to acknowledge anything about it that was good.

One day, I muttered to one of my practitioners that I wasn’t going to hold my breath for any of my various treatments to work. That’s when she gently reminded me how healing it can be to focus on the good, not the bad, in our lives. For days after our conversation, I thought about what she said.

There WERE good things about my life. I was fortunate enough to be living in a mold-free apartment. I had supportive parents. A brother who texted me funny things that happened to him throughout the week to keep my spirits up. A boyfriend who tremendously helped me through the mold treatment and did all the shopping, making it possible for me to stay out of buildings. And friends who came over to keep me company.

And the more I purposely thought about those things, and felt thankful for them, the easier it was to find other positive things about my situation. This all went down at the end of November, and with my new way of thinking, I got an idea of how to decorate my very first Christmas tree away from my parents’ house.

I made what I called “gratitude ornaments,” which were pieces of colored paper with Christmas ribbon attached to them. I made 25 blank ones, and each day leading up to Christmas, I would think about something I was truly grateful for that day, write it on the ornament and place it on the tree. On Day One, for instance, I wrote:

Thankful for my amazing parents who never give up on helping me.

Throughout the month, my tree grew more and more colorful, until by Christmas Day, it was blooming with wonderful, positive aspects about my life. On the good days it filled me with happiness to see all those things I was grateful for. On the bad days, it was a lifeline.

Many times that Christmas season, I found myself standing in front of the tree, re-reading what I was grateful for, to remind me that things weren’t only bad.

On one particularly tough day, I sat at my desk, staring at my blank gratitude ornament, thinking that I couldn’t possibly find a single thing to be thankful for. At this point my food allergies were at their worst, and nearly every week I lost another one of the precious few foods I could still eat. At times, the agony of losing yet another food was unbearable. I contemplated skipping that day and not putting any ornament on the tree.

But I knew that wasn’t how it worked. I had to find something to be grateful for. And finally I knew what it was—I was thankful for stevia. It was something I could still eat and it was the only thing I could use in cooking to make food sweet. So up there on my Christmas tree, along with being thankful for my family, friends, and all these other good things in my life—was stevia.

And I’m still thankful for stevia today!

After Christmas was over, I took down my 25 gratitude ornaments and placed them in a bag labeled Christmas 2015. In 2016, I repeated the process. Now, in 2017, I’ve got my little tree in its place of honor and my blank ornaments are all ready for December 1.

(I’ll give you a hint about something that’s sure to be recorded on an ornament. That boyfriend I mentioned earlier is now my husband!)

I plan to keep all of my gratitude ornaments–forever–so that I can look back each year and see the 25 best things about my life at that moment in time.

And every year, I’ll write down the things I’m thankful for and watch as my little tree gets filled with happiness each day because of it.

Rachel has been dealing with Lyme and related issues since 2005. Now 26, she resides in Arizona. Her blog is Resilently Rachel.

TOUCHED BY LYME is written by Dorothy Kupcha Leland, LymeDisease.org’s VP for Education and Outreach. She is co-author of When Your Child Has Lyme Disease: A Parent’s Survival Guide. Contact her at dleland@lymedisease.org.

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**Comment**

Great idea and quite true.  Our attitude is crucial in the healing process.

When upon life’s billows you are tempest tossed,
When you are discouraged, thinking all is lost,
Count your many blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Refrain

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Refrain

When you look at others with their lands and gold,
Think that Christ has promised you His wealth untold;
Count your many blessings. Wealth can never buy
Your reward in heaven, nor your home on high.

Refrain

So, amid the conflict whether great or small,
Do not be disheartened, God is over all;
Count your many blessings, angels will attend,
Help and comfort give you to your journey’s end.

Refrain

Words: John­son Oat­man, Jr., Songs for Young Peo­ple, by Ed­win Ex­cell (Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: 1897).

Music: Edwin O. Excell (MI­DI, score).

http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/c/o/countyou.htm

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Psychological Aspects

Dr. Frid – Lyme, Parkinson’s & Autoimmunity

 Approx. 8 Min

Dr. Elena Frid is a guest medical contributor for AM 970 The Answer with Joe Piscopo. Today they discuss a possible link between Autoimmunity and Parkinson’s.  She mentions Lyme Disease being an infection of the brain and it’s relationship to other diseases.

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For More:

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/01/panspandas-steroids-autoimmune-disease-lymemsids-the-need-for-medical-collaboration/   Boy’s Lyme Disease Morphs into Autoimmune encephalopathy. It took 10 years and 20 doctors to find out 12-year-old Patrik had Lyme disease. Just 4 months later the doctors discovered he also has a condition where his immune system attacks his brain.

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/04/10/bugs-causing-alzheimers/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/21/aluminum-flawed-assumptions-fueling-autoimmune-disease-and-lyme/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/09/26/silent-epidemic-of-early-onset-alzheimers/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2016/06/03/borrelia-hiding-in-worms-causing-chronic-brain-diseases/

Category:

Lyme, PANS, Psychological Aspects, Treatment

Lyme & Mental Illness – Dr. Jane Marke

 Approx. 50 Min

Lyme and Psychiatric Illness: Jane Marke, MD at Central Mass Lyme Foundation Conference

Dr. Marke explains how Lyme Disease and associated infections cause psychiatric symptoms in her lecture to the Central Massachusetts Lyme Disease Foundation. Paths to treatment are suggested.

For more on psychiatric Lyme:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2015/10/18/psychiatric-lymemsids/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/03/treat-the-infection-psychiatric-symptoms-get-better/

https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/07/26/can-lyme-steal-your-mind/

Another speech by Dr. Marke that I highlight:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/01/17/lymemsids-and-psychiatric-illness/

One more on PANS/PANDAS, Steroids, Autoimmune Disease, and Lyme/MSIDS:  https://madisonarealymesupportgroup.com/2017/10/01/panspandas-steroids-autoimmune-disease-lymemsids-the-need-for-medical-collaboration/  A lot covered here, but please know pathogens such as tick borne infections can trigger or exacerbate other autoimmune issues.  Excerpt:  Boy’s Lyme Disease Morphs into Autoimmune encephalopathy. It took 10 years and 20 doctors to find out 12-year-old Patrik had Lyme disease. Just 4 months later the doctors discovered he also has a condition where his immune system attacks his brain.

 

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Psychological Aspects, Treatment

Amy Hilfiger & Lyme

Published on Oct 31, 2017

Ally Hilfiger shares her experiences at Focus on Lyme 2017
LymeDisease.org

ally-at-FOL-head-shot-222x300
Ally Hilfiger, daughter of famous fashion designer Tommy Hilfiger, has struggled with Lyme disease since childhood. We included an excerpt of her book “Bite Me: How Lyme Disease Stole My Childhood, Made Me Crazy, and Almost Killed Me” in our Fall 2016 Lyme Times issue. To take a look, click here: https://www.lymedisease.org/members/l…

 

Category:

Activism, Babesia, Lyme, Psychological Aspects, Testing, Ticks, Treatment

Post Traumatic Growth: Reframing the Trauma of Chronic Illness

HOW YOU CAN GROW FROM CHRONIC ILLNESS TRAUMA AND HOW IT CAN CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOR THE BETTER   by Jennifer Crystal  Sept, 2017

 

After reading one of the most intense chapters of my upcoming memoir—about the downward spiral that led to my April 2007 relapse—a fellow writer said to me,

“I see a lot of post traumatic growth emerging here.”

I looked at her quizzically. Post traumatic growth? Didn’t she mean post traumatic stress? That period was one of the most traumatic of my life, and even ten years out, I still get some traditional PTSD symptoms every April: flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety, increased concern that the relapse could happen again. Surely, reading about the initial trauma itself, this writer was talking about the post-traumatic stress that would emerge in the years following the relapse.

But I had heard her correctly. She meant post traumatic growth as she saw it reflected in my writing, especially the parts where I used an older, wiser voice to look back on the difficult event and draw lessons from it. My friend, an Air Force veteran who writes about her deployment to Afghanistan, is familiar with both trauma and reflection.

She’s also familiar with post traumatic growth, a concept that is being used to help veterans not just bounce back after experiencing trauma, but grow from it and change their lives for the better. Developed in 1996 by psychologists Richard Tedeschi and Lawrence Calhoun, the theory holds that “people who endure psychological struggle following adversity can often see positive growth afterward.” As Tedeschi explained in an interview for the American Psychological Association, “people develop new understandings of themselves, the world they live in, how to relate to other people, the kind of future they might have and a better understanding of how to live life.”[1]

These were exactly the kind of changes I  experienced after surviving my relapse. Until that point, I’d always talked about “getting back to life” after Lyme disease. It wasn’t until I went back to ground zero that I realized it wasn’t about going back; it was about moving forward in spite of Lyme. Tick-borne illnesses were coming with me, and I had to figure out a way to neutralize them as best I could their impact on my future.

I’ve always considered myself a resilient person, but post traumatic growth is about more than just resilience. As explained in a March 2016 article in The New Yorker article titled  “Can Trauma Help You Grow?”, “Psychologists have long studied resilience—the ability to bounce back and move on. But post traumatic growth, which has been documented in hundreds of studies, is different; it’s (more about) what happens when trauma changes and deepens life’s meaning.”[2]

Of course, this growth takes time. For me, it took many conversations with my doctor, my therapist, my family and my friends. It’s taken 10 years for me to fully recognize and appreciate the ways Lyme has changed me for the better, such that I can reflect upon those changes in writing.

To chart post traumatic growth, Tedeschi and Calhoun look for positive responses in five areas: appreciation of life; relationships with others; new possibilities in life; personal strength; and spiritual change. I can now attest to positive changes in all of those areas, but I certainly could not have done so in the past when I was stuck in bed, unable to think about anything beyond migraines and joint pains, suffering hallucinogenic dreams only to wake into a living nightmare.

But the beauty of post-traumatic growth is, it’s not supposed to happen right away. In fact, it can’t happen unless you first come to some understanding of your trauma. And here’s the best part: Tedeschi asserts that post traumatic growth is far more common than post traumatic stress disorder.[3]

That’s an assertion I can also attest to. While I’ll likely always have some distress in April, and while I still get nervous about a relapse when my symptoms flare up, those periods are mere drops in the bucket of growth that I’ve amassed in the last decade. Lyme disease has changed me for the better, and I wouldn’t change that for anything.  How’s that for irony?

Next week Jennifer will be answering your questions about Lyme disease. Have a question for Jennifer? Email her at jennifercrystalwriter@gmail.com

[1] http://www.apa.org/monitor/2016/11/growth-trauma.aspx

[2] http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/can-trauma-help-you-grow

[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/25/magazine/post-traumatic-stresss-surprisingly-positive-flip-side.html?_r=1

Jennifer Crystal is a writer and educator in Boston. She is working on a memoir about her journey with chronic tick-borne illness. Contact her at jennifercrystalwriter@gmail.com

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**Comment**

Great read.  Seriously.  Great read.

We can’t change the fact we’ve been infected but we can, over time, change how we react to it.

Category:

Activism, Lyme, Psychological Aspects