A person with a chronic illness experiences a general sense of feeling unwell and is challenged to adjust to, and even accept this state.

People with chronic diseases must constantly adapt their psychological and behavioral responses to the various changes imposed by their disease.

The experience of a chronic disease requires a conscious or unconscious reformulation of self in order to facilitate effective behavioral adaptation.

Cognitive behavior therapy (CBT) is a treatment that can help many people suffering from chronic diseases heal faster and more effectively.

In today’s blog, we will focus on cognitive behavioral treatment aimed at making the process of adaptation and healing as functional as possible.

What is CBT?

Cognitive therapy is a focused, structured, collaborative, and usually brief psychological therapy aimed at facilitating problem-solving and changing dysfunctional thinking and behavior.

CBT emphasizes the relationship between our thoughts, our feelings and our behaviors.

It’s a type of talking therapy based on the idea that how we think about situations influences how we feel and behave.

Essentially it combines two times of therapy: 

• Cognitive therapy – which looks at the things you think.
• Behavior therapy – which looks at the things you do.

In CBT, patients work with therapists to identify and challenge negative thought patterns and behavior.

Cognitive behavioral therapy is a biopsychosocial intervention that combines cognitive restructuring, relaxation, problem-solving, and stress management techniques.

CBT concentrates on the psychosocial aspect of illness. 

Psychosocial aspects contents of complex interactions between a person’s history and his/her thoughts about and interpretations of the past and what the past means to the present.

When it comes to chronic illness, the brain is always involved.

Illness is never solely physical in nature. The mind-body connection is always relevant when assisting a chronic illness patient.

The goal

The goal of CBT is to teach an individual how to replace distorted thinking and unrealistic cognitive appraisals with more realistic and adaptive appraisals.

Cognitive behavioral therapy teaches people to recognize and challenge negative thought patterns, as well as to replace them with more realistic alternatives.

CBT aims to challenge cognitive distortions and dysfunctional underlying beliefs while also teaching coping and problem-solving skills.

It should alter your perspective on illness and make you realize that you’re solely responsible for your illness and have the ability to change the factors that may be influencing it.

It teaches you how to think and respond to a situation, which influences how you feel. You can choose to notice the habitual thoughts that you face and change these patterns so that you feel better with practice.

A good therapist will assist you in becoming aware of how your thoughts about having a long-term illness or disability can affect your mood and even your symptoms.

CBT’s overall outcomes include symptom reduction, improved function, disease control, and a higher quality of life.^[1]

Why is it useful for chronic conditions?

CBT is useful for treating chronic illness patients because it treats psychological symptoms that accompany a chronic condition.

It addresses the practical problems and unique challenges people with chronic illness face.

Cognitive behavioral therapy has been shown to target cognitive distortions common in chronic illness patients, such as pain catastrophizing, among other things.

A growing number of research studies point to positive outcomes of cognitive behavioral approaches that involve reductions in symptom severity and improvements in self-efficacy, physical functioning, and quality of life.

Conclusion

Chronic illness affects all aspects of life, including daily routines, level of independence, employment, friendships and emotional well-being.

Chronic illness often involves fatigue, pain or discomfort, economic expense, loss and uncertainty about the future.

These experiences can lead to feelings of disorientation or confusion, helplessness, isolation, despair and anxiety.

Those with prior histories of trauma may be more vulnerable to developing an exaggerated emotional response to the illness.

Education about your chronic illness and just the knowledge of what you can do to turn things up or down is a huge part of the healing process.

When people understand the pain better, usually what happens is that stress and anxiety go down, and a sense of power and agency go up.

To fully benefit from therapy, you must commit to fully participating in sessions as well as the tasks assigned between sessions.

Don’t forget that you are the one in charge when it comes to healing. Start forging your wellness today!