Welcome to the Phoenix Helix podcast dedicated to autoimmune resilience.

Today, I have a mindset minisode for you, so let's dive right in.

Okay. Hey friends. Today I want to talk about identity. The onset of autoimmune disease is a before and after moment for many of us. We feel like a completely different person, not just in our bodies, but also in our

lives. Jobs and interests that were big parts of our identity might no longer be available to us.

The roles we play in our families may change. And it can feel like we've lost who we used to be

and we don't recognize ourselves anymore.

It's a painful and scary time. I certainly went through this and if you can relate to this as well,

I have some information that might help and I also have a technique I want to share with you that might

also help. So just like there are stages

of grief, there are also common stages of an illness identity crisis. Stage one is rejection.

This is when we pretend we're not sick at all, hoping that if we ignore our symptoms, they will go

away. Stage two is engulfment.

This happens when our symptoms don't go away.

Instead, they get worse, and we feel like our illness has become our whole identity.

It's all we see, and it can feel like it controls our whole world.

It's natural to feel this way.

Most of us go through it at some point. I certainly

did. It's important that we don't get stuck here. Stage three is acceptance. Sometimes people

misunderstand what that word means. They think it means giving up when it's not. Instead, acceptance is simply understanding that autoimmune disease is part of your life,

and there can be grace and relief in that acceptance.

It's the opposite of fighting reality.

And when we do that, not only can we see more options for managing our illness well, we can also see that our

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