HEALTHINFO@EarthyMe

There are times that we learn of an individual’s illness and see it as it is alone. People do not get past the physiologic effects of the patient’s ailment, people do not see beyond the patient’s close doors; that along with what they are living with are the bodily pains and emotional stress.

Whatever ailment we are diagnosed with, it always leads to burden. Financially and emotionally we are affected and chronic illnesses more so than acute or short term ones.

One concrete example of a chronic illness that is very much affected by this depression is EPILEPSY. Probably not to every epileptic patient, but to some who were not primarily guided through it. Epilepsy have different kinds of attack, some very minimal as to losing just a few moments of focus and some severe that makes a patient black out, fall and go into convulsion. But what are vital are the medication and the management which includes family support. How you treat the patient and their ailment will affect the patient’s way of living.

Depression sets in when the disorder rules the patient’s life instead of living harmoniously with it. Like this epileptic patient that lived his 50+ years of having epilepsy like an overly protected child. He was confined at home for fear of having attack outside. The family have pampered him overly much that instead of helping him treat himself as normal he was constantly reminded that he is not. Since the early onset of his epilepsy in his childhood days, he was being assisted, accompanied and dictated like an invalid. The patient voices out his desire to be normal but after years of being such, he himself does not believe that he can be as normal as everybody. In such cases as this then, it is very important that the family ensure that the patient is seen not only by his primary physician to be of aide to his physiological needs but also of a psychiatrist to help the patient and the family cope up with such disorder.

The same consideration is needed in other disorders that can very well affect normalcy of life, post traumatic accidents included. Having psychiatrists or psychologists do not always mean that you are mentally ill. They are professionals that can understand human behavior enough to steer them to the right path of living. And a patient’s burden can be made lighter with a family to back them up. Not to spoil or pamper them, but to be a rod to their bending back; and a pole to them who are giving up.