They're both illness, chronic illness and acute illness. They both have so much in common in that they lay you up and incapacitate and cause missed time from work. And there are more similarities. But the similarities stop at the kind of illness.
Do you have the flu that will get better in 7 days or one week, or that you may need antibiotics? Do you have strep throat? Or do you have diabetes, high blood pressure, a heart condition, chronic migraines, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases that can, at best, be managed?
The first group, temporary illnesses are acute illness and with the proper treatment will go away with minimal interference in our lives, yet they are not to be minimized. After all, you miss out on life for a bit and your productivity suffers.
However, chronic illness are the gift that keeps on giving. They cause more financial hardships, more lost time from work and more claims to insurance. The financial hardships often result in bankruptcy claims. Those are just a few of the tangible negatives of chronic illness.
Marriages break up because one spouse or another cannot 'deal' with the illness of another. Sometimes there are marriages that break up, not because of lack of love, but because a couple is better off financially if one partner lives apart and collects disability. Children are caught in a tug of war that doesn't need to exist. In subsequent posts I'll discuss ways to potentially prevent chronic illness.
Do you have the flu that will get better in 7 days or one week, or that you may need antibiotics? Do you have strep throat? Or do you have diabetes, high blood pressure, a heart condition, chronic migraines, epilepsy, autoimmune diseases that can, at best, be managed?
The first group, temporary illnesses are acute illness and with the proper treatment will go away with minimal interference in our lives, yet they are not to be minimized. After all, you miss out on life for a bit and your productivity suffers.
However, chronic illness are the gift that keeps on giving. They cause more financial hardships, more lost time from work and more claims to insurance. The financial hardships often result in bankruptcy claims. Those are just a few of the tangible negatives of chronic illness.
Marriages break up because one spouse or another cannot 'deal' with the illness of another. Sometimes there are marriages that break up, not because of lack of love, but because a couple is better off financially if one partner lives apart and collects disability. Children are caught in a tug of war that doesn't need to exist. In subsequent posts I'll discuss ways to potentially prevent chronic illness.
