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Supports
There are different types of (social) support through family, friend, and formal sources. For example:
The Road to Resilience - APA
Mind-Body Practices in Cancer Care (Current Oncology Reports)
Exercising to relax (Full article, Harvard Medical School Online)
Since we have a chronic genetic illness like VHL, we are prone to stress that is chronic. I liked this article because it categorizes the various reliable stress management strategies or exercises into 2 types:
Different types of stress, APA
Parents with children with chronic illness review article - Hospital for Sick Kids
Manage stress: Strengthen your support network - APA (American Psychological Association)
Wellspring’s brochure called “Strength, Confidence, Skills, and Hope” is inspiring as it describes a..
- Canadian Cancer Society
- Canadian Organization of Rare Disorders (CORD)
- Canadian Directory of Genetic Support Groups
- Rare Disease Information and Resource Centre - Quebec
- Community and Social Services - Ontario
- Wellspring Cancer Support- Toronto
- Government of Canada
- ORPHANET – Europe & International
Supports
There are different types of (social) support through family, friend, and formal sources. For example:
- Emotional, Practical, Sharing points of view, and Sharing information
- Or it can be categorized as: Emotional, Instrumental, Informational, and Appraisal
The Road to Resilience - APA
Mind-Body Practices in Cancer Care (Current Oncology Reports)
- “Mind-body techniques such as meditation, yoga, tai chi, and qigong have been found to lower distress and lead to improvements in different aspects of quality of life. It is essential that the standard of care in oncology include distress screening and the delivery of different techniques to help patients manage the psychosocial challenges of diagnosis and treatment of cancer…”
Exercising to relax (Full article, Harvard Medical School Online)
Since we have a chronic genetic illness like VHL, we are prone to stress that is chronic. I liked this article because it categorizes the various reliable stress management strategies or exercises into 2 types:
- Aerobic and endurance: those physical exercises involving the body. E.g. Walking, jogging, ellipticals, sports, group activities, and stretching
- "Autoregulation": those mental exercises involving the mind. E.g. Breathing exercises, meditation, Benson “relaxation response” talking things out with someone, writing/journaling, and progressive muscle relaxation
Different types of stress, APA
- Chronic genetic illness like VHL involves stress that is chronic
Parents with children with chronic illness review article - Hospital for Sick Kids
- Although article mentions "heart disease", the tips can be transferred to other chronic conditions like VHL!
Manage stress: Strengthen your support network - APA (American Psychological Association)
- “In fact, experts say, almost all of us benefit from social and emotional support… You don’t need a huge network of friends and family to benefit from social support… Seek out peer support. If you’re dealing with a specific stressful situation — such as caring for a family member or dealing with a chronic illness…”
Wellspring’s brochure called “Strength, Confidence, Skills, and Hope” is inspiring as it describes a..
- “focus on the person, not the disease”
Tips for Doing Your Research on the Web:
- Figuring Out Health News (article)
- How to Evaluate the Reliability of Health Information on the Internet (Concordia University Student Centre)
- Slides and audio tutorial: how to evaluate the health information that you find on the Web (Medline Plus)
- Women [and men] Wading Through the Web: A Health Toolkit (Women's College Hospital Toronto)
- Know the Science: 9 Questions To Help You Make Sense of Health Research (National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), US)
- Interactive VHL-disease Information Tool (GARD)
WHO-5: The 5-item World Health Organization Well-Being Index (WHO-5) is among the most widely used questionnaires assessing subjective psychological well-being - English version
Mental Health Meter
Assessing our mental health is not as simple to do as measuring our physical health. There are no scales or endurance tests that rate mental fitness. But with the help of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Meter, you can reflect on your unique strengths and identify areas where your level of mental fitness could be improved to help you cope with all of life’s up and downs.
Assessing our mental health is not as simple to do as measuring our physical health. There are no scales or endurance tests that rate mental fitness. But with the help of the Canadian Mental Health Association’s Mental Health Meter, you can reflect on your unique strengths and identify areas where your level of mental fitness could be improved to help you cope with all of life’s up and downs.
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