Chronic Illness and Stress

Studies have shown that patients with chronic illnesses as a group experience worse social and physical functioning and poorer mental health than those who do not have chronic illnesses. Medical treatment itself can be disrupted as the patient’s frustration and feelings of hopelessness induce doubt toward the health care providers and resistance toward treatment regimens.

Anxieties resulting from chronic illnesses are largely products of automatic thoughts. They are not necessarily conscious thoughts of which the patient is aware. These thoughts involve how the patient is thinking toward the illness or pain itself, how he should respond to it, and toward the patient’s anticipation of how others view him. The most common thoughts can include denial, resignation, panic, rebellion, and feelings of being a social outcast.

The nature of anxiety can vary with the age of the patient. For instance, teenagers deal with such the treatment will affect their appearance and athletic abilities. They also face issues of real or perceived dependence and relationships with peers.

Adults, conversely, are more affected by their present self-esteem and understanding of their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their sense of control over their own destinies.

Different forms of illnesses can cause varying types of anxieties, especially involving causes. For instance, while sickle cell anemia is inherited and the cause of Crohn’s disease is largely unknown, three of the four top causes of HIV are based on behaviors. According to The American Medical Association Encyclopedia of Medicine, these four, in order of occurrence, are (1) male homosexual activity, (2) needle sharing by drug abusers, (3) receiving infected blood or blood product transfusions, and (4) male to female sexual transmission.

The first two listed (sickle cell and Crohn’s), then, would cause anxieties such as those already mentioned, but HIV patients may incur added anxieties from anger toward whoever passed it to them and possibly toward themselves for not implementing greater self-protection.

The patient’s environment bears so much impact on the patient’s mental state that it cannot be ignored in addressing his anxiety. Family members may also experience such emotions as guilt, anger, sadness, fear, as well as anxiety and depression. Moreover, the patient’s own view of his problems may differ according to his specific environment.

This can create vicious cyles: that is, the illness can aggravate the patient’s stress, and then the stress aggravates the illness. In addition, those involved in the patient’s life are also affected, and their reactions in turn fuel the anxieties in the patient.

There is hope, but it seldom can be found by just “dealing with it.” That sort of approach is addressing only the symptoms–and the stress and anxiety themselves are only symptoms, not causes. The need for professional help in such cases is almost certain. But without aggressively addressing it, the stress and anxiety accompanying the illness will almost certainly continue.

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