It’s easy to feel a sense of loss and even despair when you’ve been diagnosed with a new health condition. This doesn’t mean you’re dramatic or over-the-top, after all, no one wants to learn of a new life challenge or limitation, and it’s as simple as that.
However, it’s also true that most people would agree it’s best to have a health condition now than it would have been two hundred years ago. But why is that? Well, modern medicine and understanding, as well as general accessibility is better than ever.
It’s easy for us to take these advancements for granted, but really, they are magical. For example, HIV is no longer a condition that serves as a terrible sentence, but can be managed quite readily with appropriate medical concern. It’s not hard to see the case for optimism, then. Moreover, having optimism can help fill up your mental and emotional bandwidth, so you don’t have to harm yourself with catastrophizing.
In other words, let’s consider a strange and lesser-spoken of topic, how to be optimistic despite a health condition:
Health Equipment Is Better Than Ever
Aids, devices, equipment, support – the gear for managing conditions these days is better than ever, and constantly innovating. For example, we tend to think that hearing aids are old, decrepit devices, but was the last time you saw one on the ear of your grandparent from fifteen years ag? Now, the function for merging wearable tech with hearing aids is easily used. From lightweight portable oxygen concentrators to customizable mobility helpers, there’s so much out there to help your independence, that you can feel a great sense of comfort.
Health Management Is More Trackable Than Ever
Staying on top of your health has never been easier with all the tracking apps, wearable tech, and remote monitoring out there. You can log symptoms, doses, readings, and more to share with your medical team and keep tabs on patterns. Or, if you’re just bad at taking medications, you can set up alarms so you never ever forget. Moreover, medical team are now better at detecting health conditions much earlier in advance, and with AI development, we can expect an understanding of risk factors to innovate further.
Stigma & Shame Are Almost Completely Gone
This is a huge one, to the point where we wonder why health conditions had such a harmful image attached to them to begin with. The stigma and misinformed attitudes surrounding an incredible number of conditions have faded into the background thanks to awareness, education, advocacy, and afflicted individuals getting out there with courage. You’ve got public figures and celebrities opening up, workplaces and schools getting accommodating policies, online/in-person support communities – it’s a radical change from how these things used to be swept under the rug or misunderstood. While there’s always room for more progress, it’s worlds better than how it once was. So, don’t feel like you have to hide it. Sure, you might have a health condition, but there’s nothing wrong with your character.
With this advice, we hope you can feel a little more optimistic about your health condition.
