Long Term Condition

Understanding a Long Term Condition

A long term condition, also known as chronic conditions, are health problems that cannot be cured but must be managed on a daily basis for many years.

Long term conditions can have a significant impact on a person’s life because they can leave you feeling anxious, overwhelmed and even lonely, especially if you struggle to do things you once enjoyed as a result of your long term condition.

A long term condition may include diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, chronic pain, chronic fatigue and mental health conditions like anxiety and depression.

Living with a long-term health condition can be challenging and affect many aspects of a person’s life, including their ability to work, socialize, and engage in everyday activities. This can lead to feelings of frustration, isolation, and anxiety.

At Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Talking Therapies, we understand that living with a long term condition is extremely difficult and it can have a huge impact on your physical health and mental health. It may leave you feeling low or lonely, but we are here to remind you that you are not alone. We are here to help you.

Talking therapies help people manage their long term conditions and the associated impact on their physical and mental health. Our services cover a range of talking therapies, which are a type of mental health treatment dedicated to your specific needs and involve talking to a professional therapist about your thoughts and feelings.

Getting support can help you manage your feelings and the impact your long term condition has on your mental health.

What types of long term conditions are there?

As of 2023, more than 25 million people in England are estimated to be living with a long term condition and 13.4 million of these have two or more health conditions. Even though they’re more common in older people and in more deprived groups, anyone can be affected by a long term physical health condition.

There are several types of long term conditions which can impact people’s physical and mental health, including:

Diabetes: there are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is a condition where your body cannot make enough insulin, causing the level of glucose (sugar) in your blood to get too high, whilst type 2 diabetes is when insulin does not work properly or there is not enough of it.
Heart disease: a major cause of death in the UK, Coronary Heart Disease (CHD) is a term that describes what happens when your heart’s blood supply is blocked or interrupted and the main symptoms include chest pain, shortness of breath, feeling faint, nausea and pain in your neck, shoulders, jaw or arms.
Arthritis: causing pain and inflammation in a joint, arthritis affects people of all ages, including children and the two most common types are osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. There’s no cure for arthritis, but treatments can help slow it down, including medicine, physiotherapy and surgery.
Chronic fatigue syndrome: sometimes known as myalgic encephalomyelitis, chronic fatigue syndrome can affect different parts of the body, with the most common symptom being tiredness. Living with chronic fatigue syndrome can leave you struggling to make it through the day because of tiredness, as well as having sleep problems and difficulty thinking and concentrating.
Mental health conditions: conditions like anxiety and depression are long term because they significantly impair a person’s daily functions. Professional support, like talking therapy and medication can improve your life with a long term mental health condition.

Each of these conditions require regular reviews and strong support systems to help people living with long term conditions. Curing these conditions may not be possible, but maintaining a positive outlook on life can be if you surround yourself with the correct peer support and take the correct medication or work with a therapist

How can a long term condition impact mental health?

Living with a long term condition can affect mental health by causing stress, anxiety and depression as a result of your physical health condition.

For example, you may feel anxious or stressed about test results, appointments and the progression of your illness, you might be frustrated that you are unable to participate in the activities you once enjoyed and you can face challenges with daily activities, resulting in low self-esteem.

If you need to spend time in hospital or are restricted to leaving the house because of your long term condition, you may begin to feel lonely. You may be left feeling exhausted as a result of taking medications which can impact or disrupt your sleep.

Since physical health can impact mental health and vice versa, you may struggle to engage with appointments and treatments. It can be very draining to live with a long term physical health condition that also affects your mental health and getting support is important to manage your thoughts and feelings.

What support is available to help people living with a long term condition?

At Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Talking Therapies, we can support you as you navigate life with a long term condition.

You can access self-help resources and webinars through our website to support you at home, but you can also self-refer to our services which involve working with a therapist to support you in getting better.

We offer Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) which can benefit people with long term conditions through identifying negative thoughts and behaviours, and learning new coping strategies to manage them.

Our Counselling for Depression service is a person-centred talking therapy which can help you learn new coping strategies and improve your overall wellbeing.

We also offer other services including Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing (EMDR), VR Phobia Therapy and Interpersonal Therapy, as well as Talking Therapies for Couples.

Our Mindfulness Based Programmes encourage a greater awareness of our experiences, including thoughts, emotions and physical sensations. Mindful awareness can increase our understanding of ourselves amd give us greater choice in how we respond to our needs. Currently, we offer two different mindfulness programmes:

Mindfulness for Depression, which is effective for treating symptoms of depression and preventing relapse for those who have recovered from depression
Mindfulness for Health, which is particularly effective for people experiencing chronic pain or chronic fatigue

Both of these programmes are taught and practiced in small groups which run over eight weeks, currently held online in a private meeting.

Our Healthy Living Healthy Minds programme is designed to help people improve their mental wellbeing by improving aspects of their lifestyle, which can also impact people living with a long term condition. This programme will support you in improving motivation, improving sleep and your diet.

Talking therapies can also provide a supportive and non-judgmental space for people to express their feelings and concerns. This can help people feel more in control of their condition and improve their overall quality of life.

NHS England also offer health advice and support on dealing with mental health and physical illness, including living with a long term condition.

Accessing a talking therapy at Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Talking Therapies begins with a self-referral. By using our online referral assistant, having a GP or other healthcare professional refer you or by calling us on 0333 188 1060, you can reach a member of our friendly team who will support you through an assessment and figure out the best talking therapy for you.

We are here to support you if you are living with a long term physical condition which is leaving you feeling anxious, stressed or overwhelmed about your present or future.

If you need immediate mental health support, you can get urgent help now.