The Magic Number

Self discovery is a wonderful thing and I believe we are evolving as individuals every day. But often those with a chronic illness reach a particularly bad patch during their lives, one which shatters their world.

From my conversations with various other people and professionals it seems the magic number for those with complex or chronic issues is that of 20-something. You reach 20-something and your health does a belly flop and you wonder where the good days went. I myself as a 20-something year old hit my bad patch roughly two years ago and it took me almost 2 years to stabilise and come to terms with my new 'normal'. The biggest realisation was how stressful my life actually was and how it was impacting on my already problematic health.

We live in a world which is so fast paced and over scheduled that often we forget to take the time out for ourselves (which I am very guilty of) which is so vital when you have a complex or chronic health issue.  Having the ability to stop and say 'leave me alone I need to do something for me' is what has brought me to my new 'normal'. For me it was a trip to Thailand before I realised that my job wasn't helping my health amongst other things and after much anguish I made some terrifying (initially) sacrifices which in turn helped me stabilise, reduce my medication intake, become happier and less sore.

I am writing this now as with the lead up to Christmas everyone is stressed and sometimes we don't even realise what the stressors are to remind us (including myself) all to do something each day for yourself, go for a walk, take up fencing, play with your pet, lie in the grass and look up at the clouds. If it all gets too much remember there are services you can access any time of the day or night to help you through the silly season, your health transitions and life. GP's are a fantastic first point of contact but if your not comfortable talking to yours or you don't have a 'good' GP then there are services such as below available for you.

At the end of the day we are all on this crazy roller coaster together!
 

http://www.psychology.org.au/community/links/mental_health/

http://www.theshedonline.org.au/

http://au.reachout.com/

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=107.1007

This Blog was contributed by:
Michelle Taylor
AWCH Youth Representative

DISCLAIMER: The views expressed here are solely those of the author in her private capacity. Information provided by blog contributors are not intended to replace qualified medical or other professional advise and for diagnosis, treatment and medication you should consult a health practitioner.