Getting diagnosed with lupus is not pleasant news to anyone. Along with the complications that it can present to the body physically, knowing that you have the disease will trouble your mind also. The balance of your emotional and mental well-being will be disturbed by lupus symptoms. You should accept that lupus is incurable and you have to prepare your mind to live through the situation. Emotions like depression, anxiety, fear, grief, etc are common to people who are just diagnosed with lupus or have been living with it for years.
Understanding the reason for your anxiety can help you to cope with it. In this article, we are explaining the reasons for anxiety in lupus patients.
Causes Of Negative Feelings With Lupus
The reasons for the negative feelings of lupus patients are explained below.
Lupus Affects Your Physical Appearance
One of the major symptoms of lupus is skin rashes, especially on the face. Having such a skin deformity on the face can shatter the confidence of the patient. Corticosteroids used for managing lupus can make patients overweight and this might cause anxiety in them.
Inability To Concentrate On Activities Or Work
Lupus symptoms including severe pain, fatigue, etc can limit your involvement in various activities that offered you happiness. These symptoms make it very difficult to engage in usual work and many lupus patients quit their jobs due to this reason. Getting diagnosed with a chronic disease and quitting job can cause anxiety in most people and can even lead to depression.
Social Isolation
You may have to spend all your energy managing lupus disease and its symptoms. So, it is common for lupus patients to cut their social engagement just because they don’t have the energy. In addition to that, change in physical appearance is also a reason for lupus patients to withdraw from social interactions. Isolation from social situations can also increase stress and can make them depressed.
Worrying About The Future
The thought that the lupus condition they have is never going to go away can cause anxiety. They think about how they are going to manage the situation in the future and worry about whether the situation will get worse or not. The thought of both physical problems and financial problems associated with lupus can make things worse and can make you stressed out.
Due to all the above-mentioned problems, lupus patients may feel mood swings, show irritability, can get angry quickly, etc.
