Suggested Discussion Topics

@adequatelyInadequate

Here's a list of connected questions. They aren't necessarily mental illness based, but many can easily be altered to specifically include that directly and others would fit well into a discussion.

For a forum discussion I would saw to do no more than 10. Some people will host by putting them all up at once, or you can added a question or 2 every few days/once a week.

Chronic pain/Chronic illness and Disability are often accompanied by a certain kind of stress. How does that stress affect you emotionally?

Studies show that many people who suffer from chronic pain, illness and/or disabilities experience more feelings of stress, depressive symptoms, rejection, and feelings of inability. Is it possible to love and accept ourselves with our chronic illness, pain and/or disability? What do you think?

How can we combat those feelings of stress, depression, rejection and inability?

Why do you think people with chronic pain, chronic illness or disabilities are subject to more stress than people who live healthy lives?

A stigma is a perceived negative attribute that causes someone to devalue or think less of the whole person. There is a lot of stigma around chronic pain, chronic illness and disabilities. What effects does stigma have on you and your life?

What kind of negative thoughts do you feel about yourself and your chronic pain/ illness/disability?

Now that we have shared some of our negative thoughts: How do you cope with those thoughts?

How we feel physically can often affect how we feel emotionally and vice versa. Can anyone share a story about a time this happened in their life?

Pain can manifest itself in a number of different ways. What are some negative ways you have expressed your physical pain, discomfort or frustration through emotions before?

What are some more neutral or positive ways to express physical pain, discomfort or frustration with the struggles that our chronic pain/illness and disabilities can cause?

Has anyone ever had their doctors or other medical professionals confuse symptoms that were caused by physical issues for emotional issues? Or the other way around?

What do you think could have been done better in your care so that medical professionals take both the emotional side and the physical side into consideration when treating you?

Doctors often use a pain scale of 1 to 10. Remember when you were at your highest number (8, 9, 10) of discomfort and remember how you were feeling emotionally. Can you share with the chat what was going through your head?

Dealing with the emotional discomfort caused by pain, illness or disability can be really hard. What do you do to deal with that discomfort in a healthy way?

What does the term Emotional self-care mean to you?

Living with chronic illness, pain and/ disabilities can be emotionally draining. What are some ways of taking care of ourselves emotionally?

Self care is important to our health and wellbeing however it is not always easy to carry out. What inhibits you practicing self care?

How does practicing emotional self care have an impact on your chronic illness, pain and/ or disability?

How does practicing emotional self care have an effect on us physically?

If you could change one thing in your environment, what would it be and why?

How are you going to improve your ways for the positive result of Emotional Self-care?

How important is it to have a sense of self-worth when it comes to self-care?

@adequatelyInadequate You have all the badges to join the group chat it looks like, here's a link to the list of what's currently open/available

https://www.7cups.com/connect/groupChatrooms.php

On the browser, to get to this list click on chat, group chat.

each subcommunity page ie. https://www.7cups.com/home/disabilities/ also link to the room when open (adul;t disability is 24/7)