Fighting off Depression for Chronic Illness and Non-Chronic Illness Warriors

I want to talk a bit about mental health today. A lot of people with chronic illness deal with depression and anxiety. During this Covid-19 post-lockdown period, a number of previously mentally healthy people have been also dealing with feelings of anxiety and depression because of their time in isolation and the different experiences this may have brought for them. While there are many different reasons for people to become depressed, there are some proven ways to combat it. The way I’d like to talk about today is behavioral activation.

Image from: https://www.psychologytools.com/self-help/behavioral-activation/

As I’ve mentioned before, I am currently doing my a Master’s degree in Counselling Psychology. Last month I took a course on Cognitive Behavioral interventions. Though I am not planning on specializing in CBT, I do find that a lot of the empirically supported interventions are worth integrating into my future practice. Anyway, I’ll digress. What is behavioral activation? BA is an intervention that suggests that doing something you enjoy and/or are masterful at and/or provides social interaction, will decrease your depressive symptoms and ultimately make you feel happy. Before you start to laugh, as I have mentioned, there is a lot of evidence (which I’ll link below) that supports this treatment for depression, including severe depression. If you find you’re feeling more depressed at a certain time of day, that is when you should schedule activities for. Remember, they need to be something you enjoy (or previously enjoyed before depression) or something you’re good at. So, for example, if from 3-5pm every day you feel really depressed, but you like to be outside and walk, then that’s the time you should do it.

Image from: https://www.psychologytools.com/self-help/behavioral-activation/

Here’s something I noticed during lockdown. Most of the people I know who sat at home and did nothing – just watched Netflix all day or played video games – felt depressed. I volunteer at a crisis text line and a lot of the texters felt the same way by just doing those things – movies and video games. Now, I have nothing against movies and video games and they can be things you enjoy, but not necessarily when it’s all you do all day every day. Those of us who kept busy (I studied, exercised, meditated, did my 30-day self-care challenge, walked, learned a new language, etc, etc.) did not feel depressed. Kind of interesting isn’t it?

Lockdown era city hike.

My suggestion is that if you’re feeling depressed, try to start scheduling some activities for yourself, or now that lockdown is winding down, start to see some of your friends again. If you’re severely depressed, I do suggest finding a therapist to help you as well, but don’t be surprised if one of the things they suggest is behavioral activation! Of course, for anyone with a chronic illness, we may not be able to do ALL of the things we could before, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t things you enjoy or are good at. Take a look at what you can do and go from there.

Happy Canada Day to my fellow Canadians!
Image from: https://www.albertaprimetimes.com/the-bright-side/canada-day-2020-20-facts-and-figures-to-celebrate-the-big-day-2527866

Here are some articles surrounding the efficacy of it.

https://www.verywellmind.com/increasing-the-effectiveness-of-behavioral-activation-2797597

https://positivepsychology.com/behavioural-activation-therapy-treating-depression/

https://www.redalyc.org/pdf/172/17220620045.pdf

https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/ba12/5cb76b3baa12cc272d9c9bb95e3297eeee83.pdf

Exercise: One of Your Pain Friends

Hey everyone! I’ve got a video post again today. This time on exercise, and specifically core exercises, which are great for your hips! (Weird, I know.)

Highlights:

• Exercise is great for combating physical pain and depression (can also prevent depression).
• Strong core = strong hips
• Start with shorter planks (45 seconds for front, 30 seconds for side) and work your way up.

DISCLAIMER: I’m not a professional athlete, personal trainer, etc. Please consult with your doctor, chiropractor, physiotherapist, or personal trainer if you are switching up or starting a new exercise routine.

Take Care!

Hydroxychloroquine & Covid-19 Deaths…What Does it Mean for Us?

As many of you probably recall, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, both of which are antimalarials and often used in the treatment of lupus/SLE were being tested a few months ago as a potential treatment for Covid-19. US President Trump of course quickly jumped on this bandwagon proclaiming that it was a “game-changer.” This was said, of course, as testing was being started, not because of results of testing that had finished. As a result, I remember seeing many Spoonies, particularly those with lupus panicking because they couldn’t get their medications as quickly. And to be honest, I quickly went and refilled my own prescription. Though I’m only borderline for lupus, my rheumatologist kept me on the drug as it seems to have helped my symptoms over the past few years.

Now, results of the first study have been reported in the medical journal The Lancet. And those results aren’t exactly great… Of those patients who received hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine as a treatment, many of them ended up with heart problems and died as a result. So my question is, what does that mean for those of us who are regularly prescribed these meds? As North America starts to open up again (too soon here in Ontario given our daily cases, and WAAAAY too soon in the States given that they haven’t come close to flattening the curve, does that put myself and everyone else at a higher risk of death if we do get Covid-19?

Good thing I stocked up… bad thing it could be dangerous.

Unfortunately from what I read in news articles, I couldn’t find an answer. And no, I haven’t read the study itself in The Lancet (I can only read so many journal articles in a week and I have to read a lot of them for school), so I don’t have an answer. It does make me weary though. I didn’t want to get Covid-19 in the first place, but now I’m feeling more apprehensive about it. I’m very curious how my other Spoonies/Warriors are feeling about all of this and what precautions everyone is taking. Last week I was told to expect to be back at work in the next 2-3 weeks, and I work with the public. And while my company is providing masks to employees, we already know that is just to protect others, and masks don’t actually protect us, which means I have to trust the public to come in with masks as well (based on what I’ve seen, I don’t trust most people). At the same time, as a furloughed employee, I have to return to work when called in. Quite the predicament.

Image from: https://www.lehighvalleylive.com/acts/2020/05/read-my-lips-coworkers-create-clear-masks-for-hearing-impaired-manager-of-lehigh-valley-best-buy.html

Here is the link to a news article from the Washington Post about it:

Washington Post: Hydroxychloroquine Study

I’m hoping more information comes in about hydroxychloroquine and Covid-19, and what the hell that means for us. I’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on all of this, so please leave a comment, send an email (janeversuspain@gmail.com) or DM me on instagram (@janeversuspain). Stay safe.