$ Bridge Over Troubled Water: Learning to Cope with Chronic Illness (BeADisciple.com)

There’s an epidemic raging through our country. Most people are unaware of it — or they choose to ignore it. Other than those struggling with the condition, few talk about the problem. If you’re looking at this course, you’re probably experiencing part of the epidemic.

What is this epidemic? Chronic Illness.

If you suffer from chronic illness, or know someone who does, you know how frustrating it can be. One day you feel relatively great, the next day you can hardly move or get out of bed because of the pain. One minute you’re straightening up the house or garage and the next instant you’re exhausted. Sometimes you may feel almost well, while other days you’re incapacitated.

Compared to diseases with clear-cut symptoms, chronic illness is often hard to describe accurately. You can’t pin down what you’re experiencing, which leaves you and others a bit puzzled. And it’s difficult to measure some of the symptoms because of their complexity and the fact that some come and go without seeming to have a pattern. Relatively invisible, it can’t be seen like a broken limb or a visible deformity. Some people believe if it isn’t visible, “it doesn’t exist;” a dismissal which can be almost as painful as the illness itself.

Whether you’re a man or a woman; whether your pain is physical, mental, or emotional; whether your up times outweigh your down times or vice versa — this course will encourage you and provide some ideas and suggestions you may not have considered.

In this course together, we will find out how chronic illness impacts you and other people. Wait until you listen/read and hear from those who live with this illness. You will be shocked and amazed, but most importantly — validated.

Students are required to have a copy of Coping with Chronic Illness, by H. Norman Wright & Lynn Ellis.

This course is eligible for 1.0 CEU.