If a person is depressed, he or she may not follow medication instructions. After all, if nothing seems worthwhile, why take medications? This reaction is understandable. Alas, depression often occurs in patients with a chronic illness. There is nothing wrong about having these feelings; it seems natural to have them if you can’t see you are making progress in caring for your chronic condition. In many ways, it is a surprise that more patients with chronic illnesses don’t become depressed. When depression occurs, it is time for you to work closely with your physician and health care personnel to help you control your feelings. You must do so if you are to manage your chronic condition. This may include your seeing a mental health specialist or becoming involved in a group with patients like you. Learning and performing self-management skills can also help you as it helps you focus on controlling your illness.

Memory loss is common in all of us. Usually, however, it is one of those things where you say that it is “on the tip of my tongue” and can recall shortly after. If you have to remember to take drugs and perform other skills to control a chronic illness, you want to be certain that you can manage any memory loss. There are any number of things you can do from using daily pillboxes with the prescribed dose of drugs to writing up a daily schedule on your calendar. These approaches work, but they are only good if used correctly. If there is no one who periodically checks with the patient, then the problem of not taking drugs becomes an even greater barrier.
Emotional ups and downs accompany chronic illness and its treatment. These usually involve not just the patient, but other members of his or her family. For this reason, the patient and his or her family should make every effort to remain at an even keel and avoid the roller coaster of emotional ups and downs. If you need help to manage feelings that accompany an illness, don’t hesitate to contact your health care provider. No one wants you to suffer more than you have to with a chronic illness. That includes you. There are all kinds of safety nets, if you look for them, to help you.

Do any of you have any comments about tactics for these topics that have worked for you?