The Positive Effects of Blogging About Chronic Pain and Illness

Abstract

Stress is commonly delineated as a sense of being tension, distressed or run-down. Stress will affect individuals of all ages, genders and may result in each physical and psychological health problems. Normal healthy people experienced stress through external forces or external environmental factors. Researchers have conjointly differentiated between stress that is harmful and damaging (distress), and stress that's positive and useful (eustress) (Jane Ogden, 2017). In addition, many studies explore the difference between acute stress like exams’ and chronic stress like work problems. The stages of Stress would be a framework for evaluating the methods of dealing with tension routine and expressed it in a term person-environment transaction. These transactions rely upon how the person apprised the external stressor through primary and secondary factors.

Individual judge the current situation severity regarded to external events such as irrelevant and benign positive. the evaluation of the second appraisal for the coping help person to deal with stress through internal factors such a strength and determination. overall appraisal plays a major role in coping with stress, therefore there’s a link between a higher stress and higher physical symptoms and chronic illness.

Background Information

According to the reading to Ressler, et al. (2012) article about the positive effects of blogging about chronic pain and illness, blogging defined in a term of writing on the internet and share experience and opinions with others. Based on the article the target was to initiate a 34-online questionnaire about the psychosocial and health benefits concept between people who use the internet and help them share on their experience of chronic pain or illness and promote it through the health forum over two-month period, hence the result was positive many people responded to the questionnaire. “Respondents provided information regarding demographics, health condition, initiation, and upkeep of blogs, and the dynamics of online communication. ” (Ressler, et al. 2012). Then all this information was gathered in a written forum. therefore, many positive reactions come through people who fill the questionnaire which described the advantages they got it from initiating an illness blog. Thus, blogging influenced persons to increase communication with each other by reducing the isolation and help others to share their own experience with illness.

Also, maintain a blog website increase people intention to solve problems of others who suffered from the same problem and gave them knowledge about different illness. Researches resulted that sharing Experian and knowledge about chronic illness may affect the patients and increase his ability to cope with it and show improvement on his health situation Blogging and Psychological Moderator. Stress is linked with illness through direct and indirect pathway, that involves changing in psychology such as change in heart rate or changing in health behaviors such as sleep (Jane Ogden, 2017). therefore, there are many psychological factors may affect that pathway and show its impact to translate stress to illness. researchers found that blogging can decrease the effect of illness by reducing the amount of stress through writing communication and contact with other. in the following points I will discuss the link of the blogging with psychology moderator Blogging and Coping. Blogging considered as a positive side of coping, its describe the two-coping method emotion-focused and problem focused Patients and their families through illness stage suffering from sadness, isolating and fear feeling, Writing can be helpful to many persons who want to cope with illness. the process of blogging help persons to improve their communication with people and reduce their sense of isolation (Ressler, et al. 2012).

Patient could save himself from sadness and tension by writing and asking about his illness many time through web, many studies suggested that narrative writing may improve the psychological situation of the person.

Social support performs a critical function in the process of coping with illness, it has also moderated the stress/health problem link and has been outlined in terms of perceived comfort, caring, esteem, or help acquired from others (Jane Ogden, 2017). Related to respondents who has finished filling the questionnaires, they have noticed that increase support from family and buddies were involving enhancements in bloggers’ wellbeing self-efficacy and enhancements in bloggers’ loneliness, mainly amongst people who additionally experienced more attention from responder in the same blog.

So that social support moderated the stress/health problem and decreased the influence of the stressor also studyies added that the absence itself acting as a stressor. Overall blogging involves social support and gave person ability to appraisal the situation (stressor) to reduce stress and illness Blogging and controlControl described being as stress management to decrease the effect of the stressor such as threats or anger. In other meaning being able to keep calm in highly stressful situation, blogging help persons to control their life and increase their self-efficacy by giving them the emotional support Blogging and personality“researchers have argued that hostility is not only an important risk factor for thedevelopment of heart disease but also a trigger for heart attack” (Jane Ogden, 2107, pg. 59)behavior play a role in increasing or decreasing stress through many factors such as anger or happiness.

In conclusion, the purpose of blogging used to discover the importance of illness blogs as a way of communicating with peers and share knowledge with them. Blogging plays a role in self-perceived, expressing emotional and may have therapeutic advantage for contributors, also sharing the experience with others may provide perceived positive psychosocial advantages to some patient who suffered from chronic illness, and help to reduce stress. In the end Blogging data showed most of the respondent who filled the questionnaire were from highly educated segment which represented how they are active in social media and that mean also people with different ages use the blogging, to get help and support from others and increase the sense of determination to help others in the same way.