Attitude

No surprise, but I find that when I can maintain a good attitude about CD, I am much better off symptomatically. Sometimes I get into the negative spiral and it's hard to get back out. The mind is powerful, especially when you see that around 30% of folks will respond to placebo based on belief.

Does anyone else find that a positive outlook helps them symptomatically? If so, are there any tricks to getting the mind right??

I can see the virtue in what you're doing, but I would still be cautious of the long-term dangers of casting certain thoughts and attitudes in your mind as "good" or "right" (to use your own words).

There is a place for negativity - sometimes it's just plain realistic - and you can place a huge burden on yourself by always trying to respond in a "good" or "right" way. This, in turn, can put extra stress on the body which can end up worsening symptoms...

Mind training is good, and it can be helpful not to wallow , but it's important to be honest and genuine with ourselves too, because acting out the role of a "good patient" can end up being detrimental to our physical and mental health.

Ivy.

One thing I do is try and put a positive spin on situations and laugh at myself ;-) I find if I can do that I can get through it, not always easy, but it helps.