Skip to main content

Symptom Management

 


When dealing with chronic health conditions, we often ask ourselves how we can reduce the severity of the condition by alleviating the most troublesome symptoms so that our quality of life improves. This is an important goal, but a narrow focus on eliminating difficult or painful symptoms as an absolute priority can sometimes do a disservice to those living with chronic illness, for several reasons.

One issue is the expectation that chronic symptoms must disappear before pursuing other goals, as this may never happen. Another is that simply reducing symptoms does not necessarily lead to a “good” or fulfilling life.

A more holistic approach aims to promote positive psychosocial factors that enhance well-being and quality of life, regardless of symptom severity. This perspective focuses primarily on how to cultivate these positive aspects in each person’s life, fostering resilience, social engagement, self-care, and self-compassion.

In practice, this means paying attention to and encouraging opportunities that increase happiness, joy, meaning, purpose, satisfaction, and contentment. Positive and negative emotions can and should coexist, but it is important to highlight that people tend to experience a decrease in negative emotions and an increase in positive ones when more meaningful and enjoyable elements are added to their lives.

In chronic conditions, certain symptoms and difficulties may persist, yet they do not prevent happiness, purpose, and well-being from coexisting. There is no need to wait for symptoms to completely fade before seeking happiness and a fulfilling life. You may call this symptom management, but whether it is simply a coping strategy or not, life improves. By recognising that symptom remission is not the sole goal of treatment, space is created to prioritise what truly matters to each individual — such as maintaining fulfilling social relationships, being able to live independently, and effectively pursuing personal and vocational aspirations.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What Winter Asks

Lately, I’ve found myself anticipating winter — not because it is here, but because its presence has begun to register. A shift in tone. A quiet deviation from the familiar. We are still within autumn, yes, but the pattern is clear: a cooling, a thinning of light, a withdrawal. Winter does not arrive with grandeur. It infiltrates. It operates in intervals — a guest that does not overstay, yet rearranges the room all the same. It brings with it not only the chill, but a quiet audit of our habits. Our homes, designed for air and openness, falter in the face of this visitor. We adjust. Coats reappear. Blankets are retrieved from high places. Improvisation becomes method: Havaianas with woollen socks. Soup, made not only to nourish but to ground. This is where hygge emerges — not as aesthetic, but as principle. The deliberate act of creating warmth within transience. A structured comfort, built from attentiveness. Outside, clouds obscure the light. Inside, a countermeasure: sof...

On slowing time: multivitamins, acupuncture, and the art of ageing well

A major randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, recently published, has demonstrated that daily multivitamin supplementation may decelerate biological ageing, as assessed by epigenetic markers. Conducted by researchers at Columbia University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the study followed over 2,200 participants aged sixty and above for a period of two years, evaluating the long-term effects of daily micronutrient intake. Epigenetic age — distinct from chronological age — was estimated via DNA methylation, a biomarker increasingly recognised for its accuracy in gauging biological ageing. The results revealed a marked slowing of this process among those receiving the multivitamin: on average, participants exhibited approximately two years less biological ageing when compared with their counterparts in the placebo group. These findings lend weight to the hypothesis that subtle yet chronic micronutrient deficiencies may hasten the ageing process, even in the a...

The Navel and the Whole

In the course of daily life, concepts such as knowledge, self-knowledge, and the practice of goodness ought never to be forgotten. Yet not only are they neglected — they are actively abandoned, especially when they stand at odds with the ambitions of humankind. And therein lies the blind spot of human pride: the self — the ever-contemplated navel. I see it manifest in the most absurd of circumstances, where there is no sincere interest in understanding the other. The affluent denigrate the poor; the poor resent the affluent. But where, I ask, is our shared humanity? Where is the recognition that the destiny of one is bound to the destiny of all? That recognition remains — dimmed, tucked away in some forgotten recess — awaiting the rekindling of light. When I welcome a homosexual patient, I see someone in search of that very light, navigating life in a conservative, restrictive city that offers little room to breathe. When I receive someone ensnared in substance use, I encou...