It’s a terrible pun to say that mental health has been on my mind a lot throughout my Crohn’s journey, but it has. Of all of the many side effects of the Prednisolone I’ve been dealing with, the mental health aspects have been the worst, and has rather dominated my life over the past several months.
Prednisolone has given me a painful, and at times, truly awful insight into the experiences of those with long term mood disorders. I have the luxury of knowing that the Pred is what’s causing the anxiety attacks and mood swing, and that they should go away once I'm off it. People with long term mental health issues don't have that luxury.
I decided after "falling down the rabbit hole" in January that I neede to put my mental health first. I had to make it my priority. I can’t fight the Crohn’s without it. Everything else will fall into place when it is damn well good and ready.
Mental health has been in the media a lot recently. Last night’s “Call the Midwife” http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03xl3j0/Call_the_Midwife_Series_3_Episode_7/ very much centred around various aspects of mental health, and in particular, the stigma around it. Although the series takes place in the late 1950's, it’s interesting to see how little about that stigma has changed. Mental health is something that people don’t like to talk about. In fact, there is a view that mental health is the last thing to still be “in the closest”.
Mental health has also been in the Canadian media recently with the “Bell Let’s Talk” http://letstalk.bell.ca/en/ campaign in January, which is trying to break down some of that stigma. George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight did a piece on several of his guests who have discussed their experiences with mental health and asking the very intriguing question about whether or not we are having the "wrong conversations" about the subject. http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/lets-talk-mental-illness And last week, there was this very moving eulogy given by Mary Walsh which is making the rounds. http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/mary-walsh-mental-health-eulogy
There is no question that mental health and physical health are connected. When I have the Pred induced anxiety attacks, they come with heart palpitations and tremors which leave me unable to even hold a pen, demonstrating full well that mental health can affect you physically. Of course, the inverse is also true. Some people with long term chronic health conditions go on to develop depression, which is understandable when you consider how their illness is affecting their overall quality of life. It’s a two way street.
I’ve become rather a fan of the blog Mind Your Body, which explores the connections between mental health and long term chronic illness. A really interesting recent post was on mood disorders and inflammation - http://opbmed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/inflammation-and-your-mood-2-way-street.html. They have also done some interesting posts on the role of stress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease - http://opbmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ibd-awareness-week-role-of-stress-part-1.html, http://opbmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ibd-awareness-week-role-of-stress-part-2.html
However, although physical health and mental health are connected, these two areas are not very well connected in the medical system. In fact, those two sides of the hospital almost never talk to each other, and when they do, its usually in a crisis. Despite being very open with the IBD team at the hospital about the fact that the Pred had an incredible impact on my mental health, no one there has ever asked me what I actually mean by this, how it is manifesting itself, or how I’m dealing with it. It feels a bit like there is a “not my department” thing going on. Either that, or I've been written off as "the crazy one". I have enough self-awareness and capacity to identify when my mental health needs attention and to call in appropriate support. I hate to think how someone without those would be managing.
I decided after "falling down the rabbit hole" in January that I neede to put my mental health first. I had to make it my priority. I can’t fight the Crohn’s without it. Everything else will fall into place when it is damn well good and ready.
Mental health has been in the media a lot recently. Last night’s “Call the Midwife” http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b03xl3j0/Call_the_Midwife_Series_3_Episode_7/ very much centred around various aspects of mental health, and in particular, the stigma around it. Although the series takes place in the late 1950's, it’s interesting to see how little about that stigma has changed. Mental health is something that people don’t like to talk about. In fact, there is a view that mental health is the last thing to still be “in the closest”.
Mental health has also been in the Canadian media recently with the “Bell Let’s Talk” http://letstalk.bell.ca/en/ campaign in January, which is trying to break down some of that stigma. George Stroumboulopoulos Tonight did a piece on several of his guests who have discussed their experiences with mental health and asking the very intriguing question about whether or not we are having the "wrong conversations" about the subject. http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/lets-talk-mental-illness And last week, there was this very moving eulogy given by Mary Walsh which is making the rounds. http://www.cbc.ca/strombo/news/mary-walsh-mental-health-eulogy
There is no question that mental health and physical health are connected. When I have the Pred induced anxiety attacks, they come with heart palpitations and tremors which leave me unable to even hold a pen, demonstrating full well that mental health can affect you physically. Of course, the inverse is also true. Some people with long term chronic health conditions go on to develop depression, which is understandable when you consider how their illness is affecting their overall quality of life. It’s a two way street.
I’ve become rather a fan of the blog Mind Your Body, which explores the connections between mental health and long term chronic illness. A really interesting recent post was on mood disorders and inflammation - http://opbmed.blogspot.co.uk/2014/02/inflammation-and-your-mood-2-way-street.html. They have also done some interesting posts on the role of stress in Inflammatory Bowel Disease - http://opbmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ibd-awareness-week-role-of-stress-part-1.html, http://opbmed.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/ibd-awareness-week-role-of-stress-part-2.html
However, although physical health and mental health are connected, these two areas are not very well connected in the medical system. In fact, those two sides of the hospital almost never talk to each other, and when they do, its usually in a crisis. Despite being very open with the IBD team at the hospital about the fact that the Pred had an incredible impact on my mental health, no one there has ever asked me what I actually mean by this, how it is manifesting itself, or how I’m dealing with it. It feels a bit like there is a “not my department” thing going on. Either that, or I've been written off as "the crazy one". I have enough self-awareness and capacity to identify when my mental health needs attention and to call in appropriate support. I hate to think how someone without those would be managing.
No comments:
Post a Comment