As May, a month of several health initiatives, comes to a close, I wanted to highlight Mental Health Awareness Month, World IBD Day and World Digestive Disease Day by talking about all three in my latest podcast interview with Dr. Jim Kantidakis, Clinical Psychologist & Gut-Directed Hypnotherapist, at the Gut Centre in Australia.
In his podcast titled Talking Gut, I discuss the power of resilience, that so-called grit that living with Crohn’s Disease, multiple fistulae, a permanent ileostomy, gastroparesis, IBS and SIBO have given me over the years. Dr. Kantidakis asks me how I got through all my hospitalizations and faced all the medical PTSD and I would have to say I couldn’t have done it without the undying love and support coming from my mother and my husband. I wanted to beat this thing for them; I wanted to survive for them.
But my story wouldn’t be complete without mentioning my experiences with gut-directed psychotherapy, or gastropsychology, and the role it has played in giving me that resilience to face my chronic illnesses and to rise back up again by rebuilding my marriage and my life and ultimately, plant the seed of my advocacy work.
Listen to my interview on the Talking Gut podcast Episode 20: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/talking-gut-with-dr-jim-kantidakis/id1227356852
And always remember, it’s okay to struggle emotionally while living with digestive ailments and it’s okay to seek out professional help to get through it. Chronic illnesses are not easy to live with especially if they uproot many aspects of our lives as young people. It’s of utmost importance to give a voice to mental health concerns too while managing physical health in order to heal and find your equilibrium.
Love, Light & Peace Always
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