Coping With a Difficult Medical Diagnosis

A patient talking to her doctor about a serious medical diagnosis.Being diagnosed with a serious or chronic medical condition can take a toll on your mental and emotional well-being. You might feel sad, angry, anxious, or any number of different emotions, possibly all at once. This can be challenging to deal with on top of the symptoms you already experience as a result of your condition. However, there are effective strategies you can use to cope with this diagnosis and maintain as stable and positive of a state of mind as possible. These include:

Accepting your illness: It may be tempting to ignore the diagnosis or try to make yourself forget about it. While it’s important not to excessively dwell on your condition at every moment, it’s also important to consciously accept the current situation and do the best you possibly can.

Developing a plan: Once you’ve come to terms with your diagnosis, one of the most helpful steps you can take is to develop a plan of action. No matter what kind of condition you’ve been diagnosed with, part of this plan should involve working with your doctor to find an appropriate treatment plan that can improve your symptoms or potentially lead to a full recovery. If your condition is terminal, it’s also important to determine what steps you’ll need to take to ensure your family has future financial security and support.

Forming a support network: You may find it helpful to have trusted people to talk to about your thoughts and feelings regarding your diagnosis. These people could be loved ones, friends, or other important people in your life.

In addition to these steps, you may find it beneficial to speak with a licensed psychiatrist, who can provide you with a safe space to talk about your condition and help you to learn useful coping mechanisms to work through your thoughts and emotions in a healthy way. You can schedule an appointment at Flushing Hospital Medical Center’s Outpatient Psychiatric Clinic by calling (718) 670-5316.

All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter. PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.

Tips to Avoid Stress and Anxiety While Awaiting a Diagnosis

Awaiting a clinical diagnosis or the results of a medical test can be a frightening experience for any patient. Even though most of us have experienced the anticipation of receiving good or bad news from a doctor or healthcare provider, depending on the person, this process can produce a wide range of feelings including: impatience, frustration, anger, sadness and anxiety.

It is totally natural to have some degree of concern while waiting for answers, but if you happen to be someone who has a higher degree of anxiety, please consider following these tips to help you remain calm:

  • Consider yourself proactive –Understand that getting tests performed is part of a process. Rationalize to yourself that if the results are positive, then testing is the first step to addressing the problem and if the results are negative, then you can finally feel relieved.
  • Get professional advice – Seek as much information as you can from your doctor before the tests and avoid searching the internet unless these are recommended sites.
  • Speak with friends and family – If you are anxious, bottling up your feelings can make you feel much worse. Speaking with trusted friends and family members can help you get things off your chest.
  • Maintain your normal routine – Sticking to your usual day-to-day schedule and staying busy can help. You are more likely to dwell on pending test results if you are sitting at home alone.
  • Practice mindfulness – Incorporating breathing exercises when your anxiety levels rise can also help to calm you and improve your mental well-being. You can also try complementary therapies such as yoga and meditation to alleviate stress.

Understand that fixating on the pending results will not change the outcome, so there is no benefit in doing so.  Hopefully, by following the suggestions above, you can better manage this otherwise tense time in your life.

All content of this newsletter is intended for general information purposes only and is not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Please consult a medical professional before adopting any of the suggestions on this page. You must never disregard professional medical advice or delay seeking medical treatment based upon any content of this newsletter. PROMPTLY CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN OR CALL 911 IF YOU BELIEVE YOU HAVE A MEDICAL EMERGENCY.