When you find yourself in a situation where you need medical care, it can start to feel hard to maintain your own identity. You feel reliant on other people’s help, perhaps friends or family, and particularly when you have long term issues it’s been said that it’s easy to start to feel like your medical issues are seen as your identity when that is not the case. If you’re having trouble feeling like you can maintain your identity it can be troubling, so here we’ve put together some suggestions to help you still feel like yourself.
- Compartmentalizing your needs
Though it’s incredibly important to have a support system made up of your family and friends when you need support, it can also end up feeling like it’s changing your relationships if you rely on them too much – your friends and family may not feel this way, but that doesn’t necessarily change things from your perspective. It can be a good idea to outsource some of your needs, for example by using medical appointment transportation to help you reach your appointments rather than needing to find a lift. It can feel like the same difference between a parent giving you a lift to a party as a teenager and getting there on your own!
- Decorate your home
Your home should be an extension of yourself, and especially when you aren’t feeling tip top it’s really important to feel in control of your surroundings and see yourself reflected by them. Medical equipment can make this difficult, but using a service like Sunpan to make sure things are at least upholstered to your taste can be a great way to feel like you are still the bright individual that you have always been. Stamping your taste all over your world is a great way to remind yourself who you are! It can also make you more excited to host people in your own space, which can be a great way to elevate your headspace and improve your overall mood.
- Take up some hobbies
Even if you’ve never been particularly interested in hobbies, a time of difficulty or crisis can actually be the best time to learn something new or branch out your interests, not only as a distraction but so you can continue to feel like you are growing as a person and investing in yourself. Whether it’s something niche like shooting crossbows you want to learn more about or something a little more cozy like knitting, there’s a hobby out there for you. As your health improves, you’re going to want to incorporate some relaxing exercise into your lifestyle, try things like yoga and meditation to help improve your cardiovascular health.
Times of medical hardship are stressful for any number of reasons, and feeling as if you’re losing yourself to your health issues can be one of them. Hopefully, these three tips might be helpful in letting you feel more like yourself again. Small changes can really add up, so don’t think anything is too small to make a difference.