The Role Of Mindset In Autoimmune Disease Treatment And Recovery
- Brainz Magazine
- May 25, 2023
- 4 min read
Written by: Olga Willemsen, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
Autoimmune diseases can come with a wide range of physical and emotional symptoms, making them difficult to manage. However, having a positive mindset towards treatment and recovery for autoimmune diseases can help reduce the impact of symptoms and even achieve remission.
The following mindset aspects helped me to achieve a sustainable remission of an autoimmune disease.
1. Taking Ownership of Own Health
17 years ago I received a diagnosis of the autoimmune disease Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. Hashimoto’s has many symptoms and the most bothering can be digestion issues (food sensitivities, leaky gut syndrome, iron deficiency) and mental health issues like anxiety, depression, sleep issues, brain fog, and fatigue.
The doctor told me back then that there is nothing I can do about the autoimmune disease except for hormone replacement therapy. I decided to disagree and started my own search for solutions.
Your general practitioner most probably does not specialize in the condition you have. Moreover, his or her training lies years and decades back but the research and findings on recoveries from autoimmune conditions are more recent.
Therefore it is important to take ownership of your own health and seek advanced sources of knowledge and advice from professionals specialized in the condition that you have.
2. Persisting
17 years ago there was not much information about managing autoimmune conditions. It took me years to find the right sources of information that helped me, in the end, to get into remission.
Nowadays, there are good books written with reliable protocols for autoimmune conditions. The protocol of Izabella Wentz, Ph. D., known as the “thyroid pharmacist”, helped me to go into remission about ten years after the diagnosis.
Dr. Terry Wahls, M.D. reversed the MS condition, got out of the wheelchair, and is back in medical research heading her own clinic. Her protocol has been helping me to sustain my remission for over five years.
Persisting will help you to find the solutions which will serve you. Finding the right sources of knowledge and experience can make your path to remission easy and fast!
3. One Step At a Time
Autoimmunity protocols require many significant shifts in your lifestyle. And this can be rather overwhelming. It is important to simply keep going.
It took me several years:
To learn about food sensitivities, get tested and refuse gluten and milk containing products
To learn and test various valuable food supplements
Doing just one step at a time will surely bring you the desired result.
4. Managing Stress Levels
Chronic stress is known to cause serious health issues and it can enhance the autoimmune reaction. It is important to avoid stress to prevent exacerbation of the disease.
There are several effective means to reduce your stress levels:
Getting a sufficient amount of deep and restful sleep
Having a balanced diet and taking essential supplements
Getting regular exercise that suits you
Practicing relaxation techniques like prayer, meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercise, gratitude practice, etc
Raising your resilience through deliberate and controlled stress exposure – cold and heat exposure, as well as fasting
Creating and maintaining positive and meaningful connections – with your family, friends, and other people, but also with nature and animals, including pets
5. Processing Unhealthy Memories
It was shown that adverse childhood events or environments cause trauma and are closely linked with various psychological problems and chronic diseases later in life. Traumatic memories can be caused by many different reasons like parental illness, exposure to conflicts, divorce, poverty, alcoholism, substance abuse by family members, experiencing neglect, and verbal, physical, or sexual abuse.
As Emeran Meyer, M.D. explains in his book The Brain-Gut Connection, such negative experiences leave lasting traces in the child's brain and cause the formation of maladaptive survival mechanisms.
These mechanisms manifest in thinking, emotions, and behavior and may compromise the normal gut, brain, as well as immune system functions, causing their increased sensitivity to stress and proneness to chronic diseases.
Processing traumatic memories and working on maladaptive thinking and behaviors can be the key to improving your health and achieving stable remission of autoimmune conditions.
Hypnotherapy was shown to be one of the most effective tools for this purpose giving fast and lasting results.
Hypnotherapy does not only treat the root cause – the effects of adverse childhood events but can also alleviate symptoms and support you in radically changing your lifestyle with ease.
You can learn how hypnotherapy can help you in your current life situation in a free and non-binding call with me. Book your call here.
Find out more about my journey to sustainable remission here.
Olga Willemsen, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Olga Willemsen, Ph.D. is a hypnotherapist and transformational coach certified in Neo-Ericksonian Hypnosis, Rapid Transformational Therapy, and Neuro-Linguistic Programming. She combines her knowledge and experience of hypnotherapy, neuroscience, psychotherapy, NLP, and CBT to create a unique practice, and she can help with anxiety, panic attacks, burnout, sleep disorders, and childhood trauma. Her number one priority is empowering clients to live up to their highest potential. Working online or in-person in The Hague ‒ in English, German, Russian, or Dutch.
