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Research shows chronically ill might be happier if they gave up hope

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Posted 11/2/2009 12:54 PM (GMT 0)
From University of Michigan Health System www2.med.umich.edu/prmc/media/newsroom/details.cfm?id=1359

Maybe my pessimism has been helping me all these years...
Posted 11/2/2009 2:47 PM (GMT 0)
I'm guessing you're probably not too pessimistic, just realistic. Being realistic these days may seem pessimistic because of our constant exposer to the media's unrealistic message, "you can have anything you want."

I think this attitude started when science discovered how white we could make our teeth without even going to the dentist.
Posted 11/2/2009 4:20 PM (GMT 0)
I kind of agree with that. I've come to terms with having a lifelong, chronic illness, and don't let it get me down. And I've also come to terms with the fact that I may have to have surgery and may have to have an ostomy some day. But, I still have hope...hope that my UC will be well-controlled with meds, hope that researchers will keep developing new and better treatment methods, and (a tiny amount of) hope that they might someday find a cure.
Posted 11/2/2009 4:29 PM (GMT 0)
I totally agree with it....the thought of being cured left after the first few months. I have hope and faith with my meds, my doctor and the fact that knowledge is power.

I'm working on just functioning and having a good quality of life....emotionally, I struggle with many things....I hope to be able to recognise more and deal better..but to hope I will be free of it is like being in a constant manic state, when it doesn't happen....the feelings of disappointment are much worse.

It's not all or nothing....hope is always good, optimism is great, realistic thinking helps to balance it all, and pessimism makes us work that much harder to see that change can happen if we change our perspective.

easy peasy....lol!

q
Posted 11/2/2009 5:41 PM (GMT 0)
I love this thread- just the title alone makes me smile! It's too funny... but true. Although "hope" comes in different forms- you might say that having a colectomy is a sort of hope itself.

Posted 11/2/2009 6:37 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think of it so much as "giving up hope." To me, it's more like "giving up denial." And I agree, to me surgery is the thing that always gives me hope, even when I'm at my worst.

Maybe that's why some of us resist surgery so long - because in some hidden part of our brains it represents hope.
Posted 11/2/2009 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
Have to disagree with the article. To me, there was nothing worse than being told, "You're sick. You'll always be sick. There's nothing you can do. You'll be on medication until you get sick enough to have your colon removed." Hopeless and helpless are a terrible combination. Thank God I didn't listen to my original GI. I believe it was the fact that I DIDN'T give up hope that got me through the first really rough year or two and spurred me to research and experiment. These days, I have to remind myself of how sick I once was so I don't take my current health for granted.
Posted 11/2/2009 8:45 PM (GMT 0)
This is a stupid test with stupid results. How do you measure hope? Hope in what?

"Others were told that the colostomy was permanent..." and this group was considered "the one with out hope." They didn't hope to get used to this procedure? They didn't hope to feel as normal as possible in any way? They didn't hope they wouldn't have any other strange consequences. OF COURSE THEY DID!

Of course when your life is interupted with something unpleasant and you are told that it will not last that long you are going to have negative feelings towards it until it is fixed or changed. Taking away a colon from someone who expects it back is like taking a calculator away from an accountant who expects to get it back... (Can you tell i'm an accountant?lol)

To me this test means nothing. I have hope, faith, goals, etc. and all are towards increased health with or without the help of prescription drugs and keeping my colon and so far I feel good.

I think my hope started off high when I got UC, then got low with several uncontrollable flares and is getting high again since I have learned my body and haven't had a severe uncontrollable flare for quite some time now. Thank God for hope...

Posted 11/3/2009 1:23 AM (GMT 0)
Meh. I disagree.

I mean, yeah, I'm going to have to deal with this disease the rest of my life. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop hoping that the meds I take will keep things from getting too bad, or that some cheaper or more effective meds will be discovered, or if I DO finally need my colon removed, whether due to cancer or the UC itself, that I'll be able to have a j-pouch rather than a perm colesectomy (one of my biggest fears).

Also the study neglects to mention whether the patients chose their surgeries. If a patient chose a permanent bag, of course they're gonna be happier than a j pouch patient waiting for op number two, because IT WAS THEIR CHOICE.

Honestly my biggest hope is that 5-ASAs become generic soon. So freaking expensive.
Posted 11/3/2009 6:08 AM (GMT 0)
I think the article means hope of being back to "normal" or cured.

Hope is truly subjective, and we all need hope. When things were really bad for me during a severe depressed state, I had to have hope that tomorrow would be better in some way. What I didn't realise was that I needed to "function" and not focus on the one aspect of being so depressed.

But, it's a very seductive place to be....meds helped...only then was I able to truly put the therapy tools I gained into motion.

I think it boils down to perspective.....and I think most people see hope as moving forward rather than staying stuck.

quincy
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