Help! I’m falling apart and don’t know where to start…

By The MotherMind Doctor

It started with a fall and a crash and we ended up in the Emergency Department. Afterwards life went back to usual.

But my husband has had a slew of health challenges lately and he, like so many, brushed them aside because he was too busy and had little time. Until his body had finally had enough.

This time, it wasn’t as dramatic as the fall. It was one of those regular days that end up with a twisted something that no longer allows free movement and demands ATTENTION! And now he is getting the care he needs because he has to. 

Why do we do this to ourselves?

So much of our health system, social habits and human brains are built to react to urgent problems rather than prevent small ones.

Health systems are reactionary because limited funding tends to flow to emergency departments more than early intervention community support. And access to care adds to the difficulty, which can be compounded by the cost.

Which one of these resonate with you?

Then we normalise small symptoms until they can no longer be ignored. Or we focus on treating illness after it appears instead of practicing daily prevention. Then there is always the stigma attached to admitting we need help so we hide, pretend, ignore or downplay early signs.

Our brains ultimately work against us because we need to be able to escape immediate danger which makes it more difficult to focus on the long-term and unknown future.

So what do I do to break the cycle?

When I had a similar wake-up call in perimenopause, I found that making one small step, one small change was a way to build my ability to change.

When that was manageable then I looked for the next small change. Before I knew it, I was incorporating multiple health measures in my daily life without the drag of having to adjust to a whole new way of life.

Ultimately, we can look at ways to have a balanced approach to our health and can break it down to fundamentals:

Physical health like sleep, nutrition, exercise.

Emotional health like social, emotional and communication strategies.

Cognitive health like establishing boundaries, figuring out our values, and setting aligned goals.

And even the metaphysical like exploring your spiritual beliefs and philosophies.

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But in order to explore, we need to establish an interest and take that first leap.

If we want to care for others, we need to care for ourselves. My hsuband has made an appointment with his osteopath as his first step. What's yours?

Do you need to put your oxygen mask on before you do anything else?