Stress, anxiety, pain and fear are unfortunately all very common emotions that are experienced by patients and their families. A chronic disease is often one of the most stressful experiences of a person’s life.  Stress and anxiety can be especially prevalent during this busy time of year.

Ongoing stress can be harmful to a patient’s health, so we wanted to highlight this topic and how we can work to manage stress.

Guiding our discussion will be the following Topic (T#:) Questions:

T1: What is the most stressful part of being a patient for you?

T2: What do you do to cope with or reduce stress?

T3: How can HCPs help patients cope with stress and empower them?

T4: What do you think the role of diet, exercise, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle play into managing stress? And how can you keep it up during the holidays?

T5: Do you have any tips or tricks that have helped you manage the stress of the holiday season?

T6: How can patients handle all the questions they may get about their illness during the holidays from family and friends they don’t normally see?