Invisible illness, chronic pain or FND - Try DBT!
- Jocelyn Bystrom
- Nov 15, 2024
- 4 min read
You can't always enjoy a cuppa tea or java with your best friend and vent. You're having a hard day; perhaps a hard week and you're overwhelmed by stress and anxiety. It's rough.
I've been there. Some days I am there. There's hope! Here's what you can do for yourself.
DBT? What the heck is DBT and how can you use it when you need resilience and life is hard?
Knowing that you deserve to have your needs met step one can feel impossibly difficult. If you've read this far, it is a decision you're likely ready to make.
Are you ready to prioritize your own health and wellbeing?
May you be strong and prioritize your needs knowing you're worthy. It’s not selfish to ask for the help you require and deserve, or to allow yourself vulnerability when you need the comfort and support of others.
Some days just getting out of the house seems impossible when you have an invisible illness. Choose to head down the front steps and go for a walk around the block. It's what I do with my fur buddy, Ollie. Or, alternatively we head to the beach, the forest, or the dog park. We're always glad afterwards. Choose to make time for you! It helps.
Back home? - Read and learn about the work of Marsha M. Linehan, and DBT!
DBT - stands for Dialectical Behavioural Therapy (D.B.T).
D.B.T. training offers opportunities for connection if that's what you seek through participation in a DBT group, alternatively the Internet offers the stay at home option if you learn best on your own. No judgement. Whatever it takes to learn the skills - you're worthy.
Personally, I've learned through coursework, participation in group therapy, used DBT as an educator and school counsellor. Again and again these tool offer practical, common sense strategies that can make a difference, and offer hope. It's your choice to either learn and use the skills, or not. Will you. I did, and do. These skills are proven and offer hope.
May you be blessed this week through with connection as you leave home… (Yes, it’s hard when you’re feeling lonely and hurt, but you've got this. Remember, you decided and made the choice to prioritize YOU!
Treat yourself to small showers of kindness every day.
At home:
· Choose to allow water droplets to caress your skin in the shower... for a little longer than you need to; just because it feels good, or to let the tears flow and be washed away by the warmth of the showers massage.
· Choose to savour a cuppa of your favourite beverage mindfully. Use each of your senses to recall: What am I hearing right now? What the aroma and which emotions are rising to the surface as I sit and savour this cuppa tea, hot chocolate, or cappuccino? What can I feel on my skin right now whilst I sip? What taste lingers after a sip? What does the taste remind me of, or that I want to do?
· Choose a blanket that comforts and wrap yourself in it.
· Choose to express your creativity and learn what your body is telling you to discharge the tough stuff and be reminded of what brings you joy.
Outside:
· Choose to prioritize and treat yourself to something flavourful and say hello to someone sitting nearby. Say: "Good Morning" and share a smile…it helps.
· Choose to go for a walk in the fresh air: around the block, to the park or forest nearby, to the beach or to a friend's place. Connection supports thriving.
And learn
T.I.P.P. your temperature when:
Your thermometer reads: anger, worry, fear, envy, sadness, shame or guilt and change your body chemistry to CALM DOWN FAST❗️
T - Tip your temperature. Use a cold face cloth, splash yourself with cold water and change the temperature of your face/body when you’re feeling overwhelmed. Research shows this sends dopamine to your brain and helps you feel calmer.
Link here to view video✅ * a link to a video (that I find funny) that I use students at school. It summarizes the DBT - TIP Skill, based on the work of DBT guru : Masha M. Linehan, in her book:
DBT Skills Training - Handouts and Worksheets, which I’ve found invaluable for my own personal use as well as in my professional role.
I - Intense exercise. Go out and take a walk around the block in the fresh air, in a park, in a forest, at the beach. Somewhere that brings you joy and lifts your spirit. Simply getting outside helps.
P - Paced breathing: Can be done anywhere, at any time to support calming your
body.
P - Progressive muscle relaxation:
Progressive Muscle Relaxation: Here's one link but find one of the many and that resonates with you.
Here’s a link but there are many available online:
Finally, choose to leave a comment below. Which of these practices served you? Which might you try again? Have you found links to others videos that site visitors here might like? Feel free to send me the links and I review and consider adding here.
Be proud of YOU❣️ It's a difficult, but choice you're worthy of making! Choose to prioritize your health. Yes, its hard. But you're so Worth It!
Which TIPP skills have you tried?
Tip your temperature.
Intense Exercise
Progressive Muscle Relaxation
Paced Breathing
As an individual living with Functional Neurological Disorder aka FND, I choose to navigate FND with hope rather than simply surviving this debilitating disorder. I write to share my journey as an individual living with functional symptoms that be exacerbated by stress and to seek supports, do the hard work to rise above when I'm experiencing relapse and to raise for others living with chronic illness, offering inspiration and hope. May you have the strength to know you're worthy and enough.
In gratitude,
Jocelyn Bystrom
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