Tips for Coping on Difficult Days

Difficult days feel more like the norm these days rather than the occasional occurrence. Even though there is so much to love about my life, sometimes difficult days can make counting my blessings feel as impossible as running a marathon. When we have a difficult day, it can be very easy to get “caught up in your own head,” so to speak. Sometimes, the brain fog that comes with psoriatic arthritis makes it difficult to reason myself out of the funk I find myself in on difficult days.

Bad psoriatic arthritis days

When it comes to coping on difficult days, there is no magical answer for making it easier. Oh, how I wish there was. Sadly, I have no cure for your difficult psoriatic arthritis day. Yes, I can offer flare care tips and my favorite go-to tricks but bad PsA days sometimes are just what they are, namely, Bad PsA Days. (Yes, I do believe that these Bad PsA Days deserve a specific capitalized title!) My dear fellow fighters, you know what I mean. Everything seems to hurt. Your brain can’t function. It is difficult to get out of your own way to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Tips for coping on difficult days

Accept that you have to do what you have to do

Need another cup of coffee? Have at it. How about a long soak in the tub when there really is NO time for it? Go for it. Sometimes coping on difficult days means that you just have to do what needs to be done to get by. This is not a day for checking off your to-do list. The choices you make on difficult days may not fall in line with your current lifestyle choices. Sometimes part of coping on difficult days means that you need to do what needs to be done to make it to the end of the day. Eat the chocolate. Drink the coffee. Use the pain meds. Accept that you have to do what you have to do.

Sort the physical health from the mental health

Difficult days take not only a physical toll, but an emotional one as well. Find a moment and take stock about what physical pains and what emotional pains might be going on. The two are easily intermingled creating a vicious cycle that only leads to more difficult days. Ask yourself some important questions. Is there a physical pain that is making it difficult to cope with my psoriatic arthritis today or is it an emotional one? Can anything be done at this moment to address either one? Make a list, do something concrete that will allow you to see through the pain and address each issue, mental or physical.

Accept your limitations

There are days when it makes the most sense, physically and emotionally to just throw up your hands and admit defeat. You won’t hear me say it very often, but sometimes, the energy required to fight your way through the day is just nowhere to be found. You’ve delved into the recesses, searching for spoons, only to come up empty again and again.

You can’t trick your body into continuing to go when there is no fuel left to keep going. The tank in empty. As much as we hate to admit it, with you live with psoriatic arthritis, sometimes you may just have to (at least temporarily) accept your limitations. We are only human. Difficult days are called such for a reason. If you accept your limitations today, perhaps you might just live to fight the psoriatic arthritis battle for another day. You might lose the battle, but still win the war.