Welcome, today we are doing something slightly different, I am going to share my professional & personal experience…to bring awareness to the issues that many are living with…
So grab your favorite beverage, a treat & sit with me while we share the following reflection together…
If you’ve been traveling with me here, then you may be aware that I am a Mental Health professional. Counseling chronically ill patients in pain management & coping strategies was a part of my career for many years…
I would often be asked by patients, how they could explain their experience of chronic illnesses to their family & friends.
This is a bit tricky, especially in the chronic health conditions of Fibromyalgia (FM) & Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS/ME) including other chronic conditions where the patient looks well!
My advice to them, at that time, was to be honest in what they were experiencing in their lives.
Then I entered Chronic Health issues… I also wanted an analogy to describe how the body acts physically within chronic illness & impacts us psychologically.
I was discussing this with a professional colleague of mine & we agreed upon the following concept…
The “Healthy” battery verses the “Chronically ill” battery…
The healthy body battery;
- 30% is used for the normal functioning of body systems, such as the cardiovascular, nervous, respiratory, neurological etc…
- +30% energy for working life,
- +30% energy for socialization, relationships & emotions,
- +10% energy reserve,
= 100%
The chronically ill body battery;
- 75-85% energy is used for functioning of dysfunctioning autonomic systems,
- +15-25% energy is used for work, relationships, socialization & emotions.
- 0% energy reserve, already used up!
= 100%
You can see that energy levels are severely hampered by chronic illness. This is why fatigue is such a huge factor, this is why our emotional capacity becomes quickly depleted, this is why our cognitive processing can be compromised, also known as mind malaise & our ability to socialize, greatly limited!
And why so many of us have to lessen our workloads or stop work…
As the body will always prioritize its energy into autonomic systems to function to normal levels to keep us alive!
This knowledge helps us to prioritize & pace ourselves in the activities in which we choose to participate in on any given day to live our new normal.
I hope this has been informative & helpful to you, whether you are living in wellness or in Chronic illness, we need to be kinder in our expectations of ourselves & others but at the same time live the fullest life we can within our own body’s capacity…
Until next time dear friend…
Jennifer
You’re most welcome to join me in The Reading Nook
Or in Prayer
© 2018 Jennifer M. Ross, teawithjennifer.blog All Rights Reserved. Photo on Pexels.com
Tea With Jennifer 
thank you for sharing at Legacy LInk-up.
A pleasure Mandy! 😀
Thank you for this very visual and precise explanation! I’ll be sharing this!
Thank you Anita & you’re very welcome 😀
I so identify with this post. I hope you can email me sometime. I would love to discuss issues with you about my dealings with chronic health issues. Thanks for sharing on the #LMMLinkup this week.
So glad it was helpful to you Mary 🙂
This post will benefit so many people living with chronic pain. Thanks for sharing!
You’re welcome & thank you Laurie 😀
Hi Jennifer
Chronic pain and illness can be very hard to live with…but having realistic expectations and hope at each stage of recovery are crucial parts of the healing journey. Thanks for sharing. ( I came across your post at moments of hope)
Lovely to have you drop by Jade 😀
This is true with acute (short term) illnesses but sadly with chronic illnesses (long term incurable conditions), there is no physical healing journey unless a cure is found or a miracle occurs (which those of us who have chronic ill health are very open to). So knowing how our body distributes its energy within chronic health conditions/disease can help us to have a greater understanding of our changed capacity & live our lives within that kinder understanding 😀
Instead of being frustrated in our incapacity, we can live as fully as possible in our new capacity 😀
Blessings,
Jennifer
Informative and meaningful post that needs sharing, Jennifer! 🙂 Thanks. Blessings and love, my friend. xo
Thank you Bette 😀
This was very helpful and makes so much sense! Thanks, Jennifer. laurensparks.net
Glad that you found it helpful Lauren 😀
What a thoughtful way to explain such a complex issue! Thank you for being so real!
We need to be real don’t we, then we can start to have awareness & understanding in the different situations & conditions that others are living with…