• image.alt
  • With Mayo Clinic oncologist

    Edward T. Creagan, M.D.

    read biography

Mayo Clinic Health Manager

Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.

Get Started

Free

E-Newsletter

Subscribe to receive the latest updates on health topics. About our newsletters

  • Housecall
  • Alzheimer's caregiving
  • Living with cancer
  • Stress blog

  • June 13, 2009

    Blog: Coping with adversity

    By Edward T. Creagan, M.D.

4 comments posted

Some of the challenges we face cannot be easily "fixed" or remedied because of their complexity and the associated social, economic and health entanglements. So, what can we do?

Need more help?

If the stress in your life is more than you can cope with, get help right away.

  • National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
    1-800-273-TALK (8255)
  • Go to the nearest hospital or emergency room
  • Call your physician, health provider or clergy
  • National Alliance on Mental Illness
    www.nami.org
    1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

As a hospice/end-of-life physician and medical oncologist, I often ask patients how they deal with some of these very difficult problems. A couple of themes emerge in their responses:

  • A sense of meaning and purpose. This is the reason you get up in the morning. It may be as simple as taking care of a loved one or pet.
  • A supportive community. In other words, feeling a connection to others. This is your family in the broadest sense, including that beloved dog or cat.
  • A focus on moving forward. Often expressed as, "Okay, I am not happy about what happened, so I need to make the best of this predicament." In other words, focusing on what you can learn from an experience and moving on.
  • Living in the moment. Embracing today and not looking too far down the road. After all, none of us can predict the future.

These tactics certainly seem to work for many patients. Are there other techniques that have helped you? Please share them with us.

4 comments posted

blog index

MY00636

June 13, 2009

© 1998-2009 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "EmbodyHealth," "Reliable tools for healthier lives," "Enhance your life," and the triple-shield Mayo Clinic logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research.


Text Size: smaller largerlarger