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In the book 'Designing Your Life' by the authors Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, which I'm currently reading, there's an insightful diagram that perfectly aligns with our concept of 'Beyond Boundaries: Redefining Life with FND.' The illustration is of two overlapping circles with the prompt of 'Dysfunctional Belief' in the first circle, and the prompt 'Re-frame' in the second.
Recent scientific understanding and approaches have really brought us to this crossroads in the realm of Functional Neurological Disorder or FND. We each have to take a hard look at what our life going forward means, as an individual and collectively. Living with FND brings so much uncertainty, for sure however, there is one thing that serves as a constant. Choice. We have the choice to grow with our experiences and life lessons. In making that choice, we are turning old beliefs into new blueprints!
"Turning old beliefs into new blueprints!"
What is an old belief of FND, and what does the new blueprint look like?
Before elaborating on an example, I would like to emphasise that this type of questioning should be done with a great amount of self-compassion and acceptance! How do we practise self-compassion? Follow along in this video clip: Compassionate Inquiry with Breath and Body Awareness.
My personal experience:
After seeing a second neurologist in 2022, I felt utterly hopeless, depressed and my life was continuing on a downward spiral. With some therapy, I was able to start viewing my life with curiosity, self-compassion and acceptance. The question I asked myself, 'What's really going on here, Audrey?'
Old Belief quickly answered. 'You're hopeless, you're never going to get better. You are going to amount to nothing!'
Re-framing this message in my head meant I had to ask a series of questions:
First of all, who's telling me this? What event led to this thought? How much power does it have over me and why? What should I rather say to myself in order to see a shift? Lastly, what can I do on my own and when do I reach out for help?
In conclusion to my example, I managed to turn this old belief around, and with the help of SADAG, I started the FND - What Now? online support group. Getting to this point really boosted my confidence, and showed me how I can overcome challenges. I have grown a lot since then.
I know everyone has a different FND story to tell, some with more disability and hardships, than others. This doesn't mean you can not grow from your experiences. It means you have to bounce back differently! You're not alone anymore, and help is out there (especially on the internet).
Finally, redefining your life with FND is a process, it's a series of bends and turns, fears and triumphs, tears of sadness and tears of joy. It is like peeling away the layers of an onion; you do it one layer at a time. I believe that this is a good starting point in accepting your diagnosis, and finding the individualised therapy you need on your healing journey.
You can have wellness!
I hope this post has provided you with some food for thought. We will be exploring more on peeling back those layers in our online support group meetings, and hopefully share some insights in a few follow-up blog posts. Please do reach out and share your comments with us. We would love to hear from you.
Best Wishes!
Audrey
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