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Some psychological terms relating to adjusting expectations following illness(relevant to recovery?)

Dolphin

Senior Member
Messages
17,567
(Probably a minority interest)

I just read this paper:
Psychological adjustment to chronic disease.
Free full text: http://211.144.68.84:9998/91keshi/Public/File/36/372-9634/pdf/1-s2.0-S0140673608610788-main.pdf
Abstract copied below.

I had a note that it suggested something about increased fatigue leading to reduced extraversion, which I didn't notice (I thought this would be useful given the findings of reduced extraversion in CFS, which is sometimes used against us).

Anyway, it did say:
Finding benefit or growth could be one of the cognitive strategies used to offset the negative effect of illness and could be viewed as part of a so-called response shift process. 109 When diagnosed, individuals may change their internal standards of what constitutes health or other aspects of quality of life (recalibration), adjust their values and priorities (reprioritisation), or redefine what they think is important (reconceptualisation) to maintain an acceptable quality of life in the face of declining health. 109 Most research has focused on recalibration and supports the assumption that individuals change their internal standards of aspects of quality of life over time or as a result of medical treatment. 116,131–133 Evidence has also shown the occurrence of reconceptualisation 132,134 and reprioritisation. 134,135

Anyway I found this interesting in relation to discussions about recovery. I find a lot of claims from individuals and researchers about recovery when to me, the people don't seem to have truly gone back to pre-illness functioning.



Lancet. 2008 Jul 19;372(9634):246-55. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(08)61078-8.

Psychological adjustment to chronic disease.

de Ridder D1, Geenen R, Kuijer R, van Middendorp H.

Author information

Abstract

This Review discusses physiological, emotional, behavioural, and cognitive aspects of psychological adjustment to chronic illness. Reviewing the reports of the past decade, we identify four innovative and promising themes that are relevant for understanding and explaining psychological adjustment. In particular, the emphasis on the reasons why people fail to achieve a healthy adjustment has shifted to the identification of factors that help patients make that adjustment. To promote psychological adjustment, patients should remain as active as is reasonably possible, acknowledge and express their emotions in a way that allows them to take control of their lives, engage in self-management, and try to focus on potential positive outcomes of their illness. Patients who can use these strategies have the best chance of successfully adjusting to the challenges posed by a chronic illness.

PMID: 18640461 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]
 
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Martial

Senior Member
Messages
1,409
Location
Ventura, CA
I don't really feel much different because I don't have an inner world or view point. Just feels like I want to do more and enjoy some physical activities, restore these wacky brain changes. It can be extremely difficult at times especially with the weird symptoms I get in my brain, the physical stuff is easier to cope with. Just want to get healthy so I can resume my life again and change this world for the better.
 

chipmunk1

Senior Member
Messages
765
the researchers don't know what is causing it, don't know how to cure it and the are not personally affected.

The best solution for THEM is that the patient learns to be satisfied with the poor health they have.
 

IreneF

Senior Member
Messages
1,552
Location
San Francisco
I had mixed feelings about that article. One big diff betw. most of us and people with the usual sorts of chronic disease is the level of care. Many people have great difficulty finding a physician who even acknowledges that they are sick, must less providing care. *All* treatments for CFS/ME are experimental. I think most of us feel abandoned, even invisible at times.
 
Messages
13,774
Page 7. The paragraph that starts out with ...

"Of course, ...

Of course, psychological adjustment cannot be
enforced. Interventions advocating tyrannical positive
thinking could bear a serious risk for maladjustment if
patients deny the limitations imposed by disease.138
Additionally, the current focus on patients’ autonomy
and active participation in illness management should
not lead to an overestimation of the patient’s
responsibility.139 Finally, most studies on adjustment to
chronic illness have been done in white, middle-class
populations and in specific chronic diseases, thus
limiting the generalisation of findings to ethnic groups,
patients with low socioeconomic status, and other chronic
conditions.140

Although studies have shown that psychological
adjustment to chronic illness is possible, treatment could
increase the burden for patients in the short term. To
achieve psychological adjustment, patients need to face
the reality of being chronically ill and make efforts to
change their lives to adjust to the new circumstances
imposed by their illness. In the small proportion of
patients who have serious psychological problems,
professional help should be considered. Psychosocial
interventions have been designed to assist patients who
have difficulty in adjustment.141,142 For the remainder of
patients, health-care practitioners should consider
encouraging them to engage in pleasant activities,
acknowledge the emotions they have about the disease,
challenge the barriers for engaging in self-management,
and find meaning in small things.