April is Stress Awareness Month. You probably don’t need to be told that learning to manage stress benefits your health. In the Usher syndrome community, additional stressors may be placed on caregivers and the individuals living with Usher syndrome themselves.
Caregivers- we see you. It’s not easy managing your schedule along with your little one’s (many) appointments! Add to that the challenges and stress of trying to figure out all you can do to provide an environment that your child will thrive in.
For individuals with Usher syndrome, simply living with USH can be stressful, from potential communication barriers, and navigating a world built for hearing and sighted folks, to fearing an uncertain future. Whether you’re newly diagnosed or you’ve known of your diagnosis for years now, a lot of the underlying emotions may be the same.
Learning to manage how we respond to stress won’t change the circumstances or make challenging situations disappear, but we can become better equipped to handle whatever life throws at us.
NIH has a website full of resources to help manage stress, including the following strategies to manage stress and anxiety called GREAT:
Gratitude
Relaxation
Exercise
Acknowledge feelings
Track thoughts
GREAT was developed by Dr. Krystal Lewis, a licensed clinical psychologist at NIMH (NIH).
Learning how to manage stress is a critical part of a healthy lifestyle. It's important to be able to identify signs of stress and anxiety, develop resilience, and know when and where to seek help. There are many resources from NIH to help get you started.
References
- Nadja Högner, Ph.D. Psychological Stress in People with Dual Sensory Impairment through Usher Syndrome Type II. Journal of Visual Impairment and Blindness. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0145482X1510900303
- Texas Deafblind Project. Stress and Resiliency.
- National Institute of Mental Health. GREAT: Helpful Practices to Manage Stress and Anxiety
