Receiving a chronic illness diagnosis can change everything for you. There are physical symptoms that might greatly impact your daily functioning. Beyond that, emotional challenges start to settle in. You may experience grief over the life you previously had, fear about what your future holds, and frustration with a body that isn’t always reliable.
Many people don’t understand that chronic illness can cause trauma. The unpredictability of your circumstances and the loss of independence can create deep emotional scars. If you’re struggling with the mental health impact of living with a chronic illness, you’re not alone. Therapy addresses both the emotional trauma and the challenges of living with ongoing health concerns.
Understanding the Trauma of Chronic Illness
When thinking about trauma, many people assume it to be a singular event. While trauma often results from one catastrophic event, it can also develop over time through ongoing stress and loss. Chronic illness creates something called complex trauma due to the repeated challenges that threaten your sense of well-being.
During this process, your body is being put through the wringer. You’ve lost predictability and full control over your outcomes. There may be pain along the way or traumatic procedures that go along with your diagnosis. These experiences trigger the same trauma responses that any other threatening situation does.
Anything you’re feeling about this situation, whether it’s anger, sadness, numbness, or fear, is valid.
How Therapy Addresses Chronic Illness Trauma
Therapy creates a safe space where you can process the emotional impact of your diagnosis, along with ongoing symptoms. Trauma-informed therapists honor and appreciate psychological healing just as much as the physical aspects.
During therapy sessions, you can explore the grieving process, mourning parts of your life to which you no longer have access. This could be grief associated with career plans that will never come to fruition or relationships that have shifted in the aftermath of your illness. All of these feelings are valid and deserve attention as you work through them.
Therapy will also help you develop coping strategies for any anxiety that accompanies your chronic illness. Managing your medical course of action keeps your nervous system on high alert. Learning how to reduce your stress levels and employ coping mechanisms will serve you in the long run.
EMDR for Medical Trauma
EMDR is rooted in trauma therapy and can be helpful for those who are dealing with medical trauma. Using this approach, you help your brain process difficult memories and experiences so they elicit a less intense emotional response.
If your experience thus far has left you with triggering memories, EMDR could be helpful to work through them. It doesn’t erase your memories, but it will change how you view them and lessen their control over your well-being. Your uncertainty can become less distressing.
Building a New Sense of Normal
Therapy helps you create meaning and purpose despite your illness. Even when it feels like your diagnosis is controlling you, therapy reminds you that you are more than your diagnosis.
Benefits for chronic illness include:
Identifying what matters to you and finding ways to pursue those values
Learning to set boundaries around your energy and needs
Developing self-compassion rather than leaning on self-criticism about what your body can’t do
Processing feelings about the change and loss you’ve experienced
Finding ways to maintain identity and purpose beyond illness
Reducing the shame that often accompanies being sick
This is a long journey, and you deserve to have the proper support to maximize your quality of life.
Taking the Next Steps
If chronic illness has left you feeling traumatized and hopeless, therapy can help you reclaim your emotional well-being. This isn’t a burden you have to bear alone. Trauma therapy provides the tools and support you need to heal from the emotional impact of living with an ongoing health challenge. Reach out today to begin your journey with me.