Fibromyalgia: Coping with Uncertainty

Effectively coping with fibromyalgia is difficult during the best of times; added stressors like fear and anxiety, are bound to have a negative impact on our ability to cope. This article offers some suggestions for ways to help combat the effects of fear, stress and anxiety.

We are living in uncertain times. That is an undeniable fact. As the uncertainty grows we struggle to make sense of the chaos around us. We begin to feel powerless and helpless at our inability to control an uncontrollable situation. As it is with life - so it is with living with a chronic illness like fibromyalgia. Effectively coping with a chronic illness is difficult during the best of times; added stressors like fear and anxiety, are bound to have a negative impact on our ability to cope.

ImmuneSupport.com's Tip of the Day for February 14, 2003 states:

Anxiety and fear are strongly associated with pain, particularly as pain increases in severity. Pain increases anxiety because the person worries that the pain will never end. A sense of control is lost and feelings of helplessness ensue. Anxiety results in muscle tension and spasm, reducing blood flow and increasing tissue ischemia, releasing chemicals into the surrounding tissues that worsen the physical pain, and on the cycle goes. By addressing these fears about the person's current and future life, some psychological relief can be provided even if the physical pain cannot be eliminated.

As you can see - this is a vicious cycle. Anxiety and fear increase our pain - as our pain increases so does our anxiety and fear. According to a recent Newsweek article Our Bodies, Our Fears. Unhealthy feelings impair immunity, interrupt sleep, exacerbate existing conditions, causing headaches, insomnia, back and neck pain, disorientation, and high blood pressure.

While we cannot control the affairs of the world; we can maintain some control over our reactions by trying to eliminate or reduce the effects of added stressors. The following are some suggestions for ways to help combat the effects of fear, stress and anxiety.

• Support System

  Being able to express our feelings, fears, and experiences, exchange ideas, coping skills, and information with others who understand (not feeling alone), is one of the most important benefits of joining a support group. It is this sharing that ultimately helps us all most in the long run. I am often overwhelmed by things that I feel are beyond my control (work, family, life in general, coping with FMS), and the Fibro Friends help me work through it by offering advice, support, validation, compassion, hope, and of course

  The copyright of the article Fibromyalgia: Coping with Uncertainty in Fibromyalgia Resources is owned by Tamara Peters. Permission to republish Fibromyalgia: Coping with Uncertainty in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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