[ad_1]
I know a lot of people are looking at this article title and saying to themselves, "What do hemorrhoids have to do with my mental health?" The answer is, everything. As someone who suffered with hemorrhoids for over 10 years before I finally found a way to deal with them effectively, I can tell you first hand that hemorrhoids have a profound effect on your mental health on more than one level. I am going to discuss each of these in this article and give you suggestions on how to deal with them. Keep reading to find out more.
On the one level there is the fear of what hemorrhoids mean. A lot of people are misinformed about them. They think that they lead to worse diseases such as cancer and therefore worry needlessly about developing an even worse condition, especially if their hemorrhoids bleed. So let me put your mind at ease right now. Hemorrhoids can not become cancerous. That does not mean that you can not develop cancer from something else. But having this condition alone will not mean you are going to get cancer.
Then there is the pain of the hemorrhoids themselves. Depending on how serious the condition is, this pain can be minimal to quite severe. In my case, suffering from stage 4 external prolapsed hemorrhoids, the pain, at times, was simply unbearable. There were days when I could not sit for more than a few seconds at a time. There was one week in particular, yes, 7 whole days, when I was in agony. What this does to your quality of life is terrible for your mental health. Every waking minute revolves around whether or not you're going to be in pain that day. If you move your bowels, will there be pain? I was afraid to go out. I was afraid that if I had to go out, that particular day, I'd be in pain. I lived like this for over 10 years. Think it did not take a mental strain on me?
But then there is something that most people do not even think about. There is the mental anguish of not being able to discuss this with anybody. You essentially suffer alone. Or do you have no problem talking to your friends and acquaintances and telling them that you have hemorrhoids? The only person in this world who knows about my condition is my wife and my doctor. It's just not something that people can easily talk about. So we suffer in silence and that takes an incredible mental toll on us.
Add to that the stress of the added expense having to treat hemorrhoids. You do not realize it until you've been to the doctor or the hospital a few times for thrombosis and the procedures are not covered because hemorrhoids are not considered serious enough for an emergency room visit. They're not like having a heart attack. You'll find this out when you go to get treatment.
Okay, so how do you deal with all this stress?
For starters, as far as the pain goes, treat it as best as you can. Hot baths, ice, whatever works for you. Manage the pain and quality of life goes up which relieves some of the stress. Do not just live with your hemorrhoids. Do something about them. Just doing something will make you feel mentally better.
As for the fear, like I said, hemorrhoids are not serious. So stop worrying about getting cancer from them. You can not.
As for the expense, it's only money. You can not get your peace of mind back. You can always make more money. I have learned in my later years that money is not everything. If you do not have your health, you have nothing. Money will take care of itself.
As for telling your friends and having to keep this all to yourself, you have to ask yourself which is more important. Is living with this condition all alone better than the embarrassment of telling your friends you have hemorrhoids? Whichever you ultimately decide is the better choice, do it. I was fortunate that I never had to tell anybody because I eventually figured out how to beat my condition. You can read my story below in my signature. It's only 10 pages but I think it will change your life.
Most of all, relax. Take a deep breath. Spend more time being proactive about your condition. Do not just live with it. Do something about it! Start by reading my story. I promise it will help you a lot.
To YOUR Health,
Steve Wagner