Chronic illness is a health condition that lasts a long time and can cause us to adjust our daily activities to accommodate pain or fatigue that comes with the condition.  The official definition of chronic disease is one that lasts at least 3 months. Conditions such as arthritis, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, chronic fatigue are a few of the conditions that can bring challenges into our lives that we didn’t expect to have.

 

We know chronic illness can affect our mental health. It is common to feel down emotionally as a result of physical pain or an extended bout of fatigue. Our life becomes interrupted, our mood dips, if the situation continues, we can become anxious as well. Over time if the condition worsens or does not get better, depression may develop. Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders associated with chronic illness. The risk to develop depression becomes much higher if we have a condition that disrupts our lives and causes physical discomfort or loss of energy.