Emotional Autoimmunity: Dealing with the emotional issues of chronic illness
Chronic illness completely changes your life but nobody talks about or even acknowledges all of the emotional issues that come with it and I'm on a mission to change that. As a therapist living with four autoimmune diseases, I know exactly what the issues are and more importantly, how to overcome them. From medical gaslighting, dealing with grief and all of the 'what if' thoughts that keep you awake at night, let's talk about the emotional issues of chronic illness and what you can do to help yourself.
Episodes
71 episodes
What if they don't believe me?
By far, the biggest and most upsetting issue for those of us living with chronic illness is not being believed. From Doctors, family, friends and even total strangers on the internet, there are so many people full of scepticism, uns...
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Season 5
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Episode 2
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56:49
How to adapt to living with chronic illness Part 2
The emotional and psychological impacts of becoming chronically ill so often go unrecognised, misunderstood belittled or simply ignored.Which means that when it happens to you, you have no idea if the grief, fear, overwhelm and exhaustio...
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Season 5
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Episode 1
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42:55
How to adapt to living with chronic illness: Part 1.
Most of my new clients with chronic illness are starting from a place of complete overwhelm and feeling like they are sitting in the wreckage of their lives and wondering, 'where do I even start to deal with this?'So let's talk about ov...
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Season 4
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Episode 14
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39:58
When others don't support how you choose to manage your illness.
Chronic illness changes every aspect of your life and a large part of that is figuring out ways to best manage your symptoms and protect your energy. The biggest problem is though that other people can get in the way of that. ...
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Season 4
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Episode 13
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51:01
Why we don't talk about our chronic illness
After a while, most people who live with chronic illness give up trying to talk about what it's like and how it feels, because people don't seem to understand. Especially as time goes on and those around you don't see you 'getting ...
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Season 4
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Episode 12
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1:02:26
Ask Kerry: Questions and answers about the emotional issues of chronic illness
In this episode I answer questions from my chronic illness community including:Can you speak to the cost of the unique stressors in chronic illness including not being able to trust the guidance of doctors, trying to resolve health prob...
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Season 4
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Episode 11
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50:04
How my chronic illnesses affect my everyday life
Today (June 19th, 2024) marks 4 years since my Type 1 diabetes diagnosis which makes this the perfect time to talk about how my chronic illnesses affect my everyday life. In this podcast I open up about each of my 4 different autoi...
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Season 4
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Episode 10
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1:02:56
Why this isn't a 'you' thing.
One of the big, missing pieces in supporting people with chronic illness is that there is so little acknowledgment that becoming chronically ill changes peoples lives and that this creates complex emotional issues that are in fact, completely n...
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Season 4
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Episode 9
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48:52
Chronic illness, jealousy and envy.
One of my main objectives both with my podcast and my work, is to educate and validate the very normal emotional experiences and issues that come with becoming chronically ill. The feelings of jealousy and envy are the ones we don'...
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Season 4
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Episode 8
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47:00
Dealing with anxiety and the 'what if' thoughts.
Anxiety and dealing with constant 'what if' thoughts are something that every human has to deal with as our brain is trying to interpret our environment for potential threats to try and keep us safe. But when you live with ch...
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Season 4
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Episode 7
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44:21
How to maximize your chances of getting the support you need.
When you live with chronic illness, you can feel so very alone which makes getting support more important than ever. What's often shocking though is discovering just how little support is actually out there!There is so litt...
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Season 4
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Episode 6
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42:12
Everything you need to know about brain fog and what you can do about it
If you live with chronic illness and autoimmune disease, then you understand just how frustrating and debilitating brain fog can be. From the embarrassment of forgetting simple words, losing your ability to concentrate and focus or...
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Season 4
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Episode 5
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50:00
What people who live with chronic illness most want you to understand
This episode is a collaboration between myself, my clients and my social media community. We all know that one of the biggest issues we face is the lack of understanding about what chronic illness is and the ongoing impact it has o...
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Season 4
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Episode 4
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53:38
Self-Pity, Self-Compassion and Toxic Positivity
There is no denying that when it comes to chronic illness, there is a huge gap in peoples understanding of just how much it changes your life, energy and ability. So when it comes to trying to share your feelings, doubts, fears and...
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Season 4
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Episode 3
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42:13
Rest and Guilt
When you become chronically ill, one of the biggest challenges you will face because of how the disease so often limits your energy and ability, is an increased need for rest.In fact, rest is an essential component of responsible chroni...
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Season 4
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Episode 2
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41:29
Managing your energy with chronic illness
The hallmark symptom of all chronic illness is without question, the fatigue. Every time I ask my community which symptom they most wish they could eliminate permanently, fatigue tops the list. It is debilitating, disa...
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54:39
Chronic illness and Boundaries
Having good boundaries in our relationships at any time are essential, but during the holiday season, they take on a much bigger importance!There are so many expectations, pressures and emotions that only happen during the Holidays and ...
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Season 3
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Episode 13
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36:24
Ask Kerry: Questions and advice for partners.
When you get chronic illness, it doesn't only change your life. The impact on your family and partners can be huge, potentially damaging and be the cause of so much guilt, conflict, resentment and division. A few wee...
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Season 3
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Episode 12
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54:53
The top 5 Chronic Illness irrational thoughts.
Irrational thoughts, otherwise known in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy circles as Cognitive Distortions are something that everyone experiences. The problem with these irrational thoughts is that they can and do influence our behavi...
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Season 3
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Episode 11
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34:19
What to do when you have given up hope.
When you live with chronic illness, chances are high that you have experienced many moments of fear, overwhelm and grief and for so many of us in the chronic illness community, it can lead to such despair that you give up all hope.
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Season 3
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Episode 10
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47:25
The five key emotional issues of chronic illness and how they can affect you.
One of the biggest issues of living with chronic illness is that people don't "get it". They don't understand what it is, how much it impacts every part of your daily life and the complex emotions that go along with it. And beca...
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Season 3
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Episode 9
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54:19
10 things Iv'e learned from 10 years of chronic illness.
October 8th was my 9th anniversary of the Hashimoto's diagnosis that left me sitting in the ruin of my life, cognitively and physically disabled with no idea if I was going to survive or ever have a chance of recovery.Because my descent...
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Season 3
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Episode 8
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57:54
How to deal with unsolicited chronic illness advice
We all know that one of the biggest frustrations about living with chronic illness is the unsolicited ‘have you tried….?’ suggestions. Especially when it’s being given by someone who has no experience or knowledge about what living ...
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Season 3
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Episode 7
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44:23
Let's talk about not letting the illness define you.
When you live with chronic illness, one of the things you may hear quite often is a version of "not letting the illness define you" either as a caution or warning from other people or as a fear that you hold yourself as you struggle to hang on ...
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Season 3
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Episode 6
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51:57
The Pro's and Con's of changing how you eat to manage chronic illness.
Changing how you eat to manage chronic illness can be a very triggering and divisive topic for so many in our chronic illness community because how and what we eat is about so much more than simply satisfying hunger. Food is family...
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Season 3
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Episode 5
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59:45