Positive psychology and managing serious diseases
August 18, 2007
As you may know I am struggling through a difficult period with an
autoimmune illness, Wegener’s disease. I dislike being a “patient” in every sense of the word but I have had to learn new adaptive skills to weather the storm.
Managing this illness has been life changing to say the least, and my
training in positive psychology has never been more useful. I am no stranger to stress caused by serious disease processes. I’ve been managing much too much stress, especially during the past two years due to my husband’s recurrence of cancer.
I also have many mothering demands and a really full practice to manage. Well, God had other plans and most of the way my life was structured has been turned upside down. I have had to close my psychotherapy practice for now which saddens me greatly. I am taking powerful immune suppressant drugs to put this disease back into remission. If I even catch a cold, its not good!
Its hard to watch yourself transform from a person of relatively good health into a patient. Not fun but temporary! I hate being dependent on others but I am learning. Illness is a wonderful teacher when God can’t get your attention in other ways!! There are so many gifts and blessings, even for “slow-learners” like me! 
. . . So on many levels, things are really transforming! I have been using all the wonderful things I’ve learned over the years from Positive Psychology. I meditate each day, use guided imagery and hypnosis and practice all the “learned optimism” and cognitive techniques to get me through! Helping facilitate mind-body communication is key!
When it comes to medical decisions and taking tests, too much Optimism is not good. Marty Seligman suggests realistic, accurate optimism (maybe even pessimism) when making medical decisions. This makes a lot of sense to me now.
Gratitude and forgiveness of self are key to moving through! I love to
learn and do research on new things and I have marshaled all sorts of help from integrative and alternative medicine. It’s so exciting and I am VERY open to using all sorts of cutting-edge information. Curiosity is a good strength to have at this time!
Thanks for your good wishes, prayers and love… onward!
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