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About IBDAuthor: Amber J Tresca
Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis (collectively known as inflammatory bowel disease or IBD) are about more than diarrhea because they affect the entire body and every aspect of life. About IBD, hosted by a medical writer and veteran IBD patient, focuses on health and lifestyle issues important to people living with Crohn's or colitis. Patients, doctors, therapists, and care partners give tips and advice on topics including IBD treatment and research, what patients should eat, experiences with anxiety and depression, the effects on family dynamics, and intimacy and sexuality as it relates to living with IBD. Language: en Genres: Health & Fitness, Medicine Contact email: Get it Feed URL: Get it iTunes ID: Get it Trailer: |
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Why Flare-Ups Aren't Failure: The Truth About Chronic Illness Grief
Episode 211
Monday, 21 September, 2026
Transcript and more information: https://bit.ly/AIBD211 Flare-ups in chronic illness can reopen feelings of grief. Clinical psychologist Dr Antonia Repollet shares her journey with Crohn's disease and how it informs the way she helps patients navigate the emotional challenges of long-term health conditions. Learn ways to maintain your identity despite symptoms, how to come back from comments like "you don't look sick," and how a GI psychologist can be an ally in managing life with a relapsing-remitting condition. Key chapters and timestamps: [00:00] - Introduction: Meet Dr Antonia Repollet, GI psychologist [02:18] - Navigating Crohn's, bullying, and school without accommodations [05:28] - Bridging mind, body, and lived experience to land in GI psychology [07:25] - When and why Dr Repollet discloses her health journey to patients [11:19] - The 7 Stages of Chronic Illness Grief and why the cycles aren't setbacks [14:46] – Coping with invisible illness stigma and responding to "you don't look sick" [19:31] - Reclaiming identity and purpose outside of managing a chronic illness [21:23] - Rejecting the dichotomy of toxic positivity and worst-case scenarios [25:48] – How evidence-based tools such as CBT, gut-directed hypnotherapy, and support groups can help patients cope [29:35] – Closing on how pets, such as cats like Pearl, Bubba Bear, Loki, and Freya, are important allies in managing hard days What you'll learn: Why new anger or sadness during an active flare isn't an emotional setback. How the 7 Stages of Chronic Illness Grief can help process complex issues. Ideas about responding to remarks like "You're too young to be this sick." Steps to reconnect with your values and passions despite managing chronic illness. Why performative wellness sparks burnout and how vulnerability creates true connection. How GI-tailored mental health modalities address the biological gut-brain axis. Resources Steroid Side Effects: https://www.hopkinsvasculitis.org/vasculitis-treatments/prednisone/ Psychological Stages of Chronic Illness/Chronic Pain: https://www.jennifermartinpsych.com/yourcolorlooksgoodblog/2015/4/27/psychological-stages-of-chronic-illnesschronic-pain Grief and Chronic Illness: Processing the "Old You" — Dr. Antonia Repollet: https://www.gipsychology.com/blog/grief-and-chronic-illness/ Find Antonia Repollet, PsyD at: Instagram: @drantoniarepollet LinkedIn: @antoniarepollet Find GI Psychology at: Website: https://www.gipsychology.com/ Instagram: @gipsychusa Facebook: @GIPsychology YouTube @gipsychologymindyourgut LinkedIn: @gipsychology Twitter/X: @GIPsychUSA Find Amber J Tresca at: AboutIBD.com: About IBD Verywell: Verywell Health Facebook: @aboutIBD Twitter: @aboutIBD Pinterest: @aboutibd Instagram: @about_IBD YouTube: @AboutIBD Threads: @about_IBD Find Mac Cooney (mix, sound design, and theme music) at: Facebook: @maccooneycomposer Instagram: @maccooneycomposer Web: Cooney Studio YouTube: @MacCooneyComposer Theme music, IBD Dance Party, is from ©Cooney Studio. These show notes may contain affiliate links. If you choose to purchase after clicking a link, Mal and Tal Enterprises, LLC may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
