Attitude – How it affects the Progression of Parkinson’s Disease
John Pepper
Do you have the right attitude, to deal with a serious, progressive, degenerative, neurological disorder, like Parkinson’s Disease?
It is common for mildly affected Parkinson’s disease patients to suffer severe psychological problems, while other patients, with pronounced Parkinson’s disease symptoms, live happy, well-adjusted lives.
Why?
They all have Parkinson’s disease, but the way they handle it, and the way they carry on their life is dictated by their attitude.
Attitude is the way we choose to face up to life! It is our approach to how we face up to our problems and the way we deal with other people. We can take a positive attitude to life, and enjoy our interaction with others, or else we can take a negative attitude, which normally brings about a negative response from others, and makes our lives less enjoyable.
There is No in-between.
Our attitude can’t always stay the same, it changes from moment to moment, but it normally stays fairly constant, until something significant happens to us. So,
Why not set about making your attitude a POSITIVE one?
If you were like me, when I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, my attitude towards life had become, generally, very negative. This was because my health had been deteriorating for many years.
I had always been a very upbeat, positive kind of person. I was running a business, in which I was the major shareholder, and had to be upbeat, if I were going to succeed. However, I realised, two years after diagnosis that I was
Wallowing in self-pity;
I had become very negative about life. That did not begin to happen at the time of diagnosis, it started happening long before then.
Being cheerful, makes other people feel cheerful, whereas, being miserable, normally encourages other people to give us a wide birth. Nobody likes to be around a grouchy, cantankerous person.
The inevitable result of dealing with grouchy people is wanting to get away from them. Often, we end up arguing with unpleasant people, because negativity brings out our darker side.
Your care-giver may have no choice but to be with you, so why not make it easier for him/her, by giving him/her a smile, instead of a complaint, or just a grunt, when they do something for you? It makes them feel appreciated. Otherwise, they may be tempted to call it a day, and leave you on your own. Male care-givers often leave their partners, when things turn sour! Female care-givers tend to be more supportive, regardless of the response they get from the patient. But why make their lives a misery, just because you have Pd? They are not the cause of your problem and neither are you, but the way you interact with your care-giver makes all the difference!
The first thing we all have to do, when Parkinson’s disease makes its unwelcome entrance into our life, is take a hard look at our attitude! I knew I had to change mine, because it had become so negative, during the years leading up to the diagnosis. That had been exacerbated by the enormous stress I had been experiencing in my business.
My natural fighting spirit had appeared to have deserted me.
When did that happen?
It only occurred to me - when I sat down and took a hard look at what I had been doing, during the time leading up to the diagnosis –
my attitude had done a one-hundred-and-eighty degree turn-around.
I initially blamed everybody but myself, which was only natural. But when I realized it was all of my own doing, I had to accept full responsibility for my negative attitude.
Find out what I did to bring about this change in my attitude. Order your copy of my book, ‘Reverse Parkinson’s Disease’ today, and set about changing your life, for the better!
You can order the book on my website: