Disability Tips: Coping with being Housebound/Bedbound
When your chronic illness gets to the point that it limits your ability to go outside or even go into your living room the mental effects can be absolutely devastating. This article is for the many people out there who have become "invisible" due to our illnesses. It is a very frightening event to live through but with time despair will wade and contentment wash in. Now I won't say that you will always feel content all the time while living with severe limitations. It's an immensely difficult thing to go through and it is okay if you feel sadness or despair or anger from time to time. I just wanted to share with you what helped me when I used to be housebound & bedridden.
MoodBoard
Something that helped me cope with life in bed were these terms I coined together called "Bedspo & POTD's." (Bed Inspiration & Pajamas of the Day)
Basically BedSpo & POTD were combining aspects of Hygge and daily chronic illness life to help me find silver linings in being so limited and indoors so much. They helped me feel a sense of contentment and they helped me express myself. I thought less about how hard it is to be inside and more about how these pictures inspired me to make my life beautiful and cozy. I was big on fashion (Obviously being a fashion designer in the present day) so wearing pajamas and lounge wear that were comfy and cute was important to me. It made me feel less dingy and more put together. Some spoonies find it helpful to wear daytime pajamas and change into night time pajamas as well. If you have trouble dressing yourself check out our collection of stylish clothing which all have an option for adaptive alteration.
2. Nature
Being unable to go out regularly can make you incredibly cut off. Have someone help decorate your room with plants and various things from outside like seashells and rocks and dried flowers etc. If you cannot water a plant regularly you can always get fake plants. Nature Tapestries are also helpful as they give you the feeling of a natural backdrop and opening your windows can help you feel more connected.
Product Picture from: https://www.etsy.com/listing/645300704/hiking-wall-tapestry-wanderlust-forest
Picture From Homeique.com
3. Indoor Gardening
To add on to nature indoor gardening is a great way to kill some time, bring in some fresh greens to look at or eat, and give you something to look forward to. Watch your green babies grow and put them somewhere accessible like the bedside if you are completely bedridden.
4. Projects and Hobbies. & Routine
When I was housebound/bedridden I found myself pursuing a large variety of hobbies and taking up different projects that kept me occupied for days. It's important to find different things to do throughout the day so that you don't find yourself staring into a void of boredom which will inevitably invite negative thoughts you don't need! Some of my favourite things/projects to do throughout the day were: Writing, Videography, Online Classes, Making Art, Doing makeup, Playing Instruments, Reading, Window or Porch watching, the list goes on. I did a lot of these while in bed, buying something like a bed table can make a difference as well.
Routine is also very important waking up at a certain time everyday(I wake up between 8-10 am) You can even assign certain days for certain activities or make a "When I can list" for the day instead of a To Do list to ease the pressure, we all know how unpredictable chronic illness is. Another thing I used to do was take shreds of paper and write out different activities to do and I would just pull one out when I was bored. I try to wake up and start doing Chair aerobics if possible.
5. Skype & Video support groups
When you're stuck indoors, Isolation can become an enormous issue. Many of us don't get a lot of visitors and our social lives extend to whoever we live with and online. Skyping on a regular basis can lessen the weight of the isolation.
Video support groups take this to another level because we can connect with others who are also housebound or bedbound.
Check out these groups - https://paincommunity.org/ https://chronicpainanonymous.org/find-meetings/video-chat-meetings/
6. Having Events at home
Something I used to do when I could muster the energy was have events at home with friends or family. I bought a cheap projector since I could not go to movie theatres anymore and had movie nights with loved ones sometimes I would even print up tickets. Another event I would have is having dinners or lounge nights since I could not go clubbing and in general had very limited stamina to actually go to a restaurant.
I would decorate my dinner table or patio in a way that it resembled a restaurant or a hookah lounge I even went as far as making a hookah lounge menu.
When I had dinners I would order from a new restaurant and decorate similarly to this to create that desired ambiance, string lights also help it look more like a restaurant.
When I had hookah nights I decorated similarly to this:
Picture from: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/791648440718744772/
In short, bring the outdoors to you! The point is being able to control the atmosphere so it does not trigger symptoms from your disability(ies) that would be triggered if you actually went to these places in person, not to mention if it becomes too much you can always crash in bed or the couch which won't be too far away. Don't be afraid to ask for help when decorating, no one wants to get sick before the event even starts!
7. Using Friendship Apps.
When your stuck indoors or in bed there are very few avenues to make friends. Friendship apps are like dating apps but they are meant for platonic relationships. I used what little stamina I had to meet people in public then hang out indoors using the events that I talked about above. Some people are comfortable having the first meeting at home but that's just not me. You can use apps like "Patook" or "Bumble BFF" to expand your social circle.
I hope this was helpful to those of you who are struggling; there will be a video coming soon on this topic! Thanks for reading and please share.
