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Psychological lipoedema support

Living with lipoedema can be mentally challenging, impacting how you perceive and manage your symptoms. Psychological therapy can help you to cope with a long-term (chronic) disease such as lipoedema and improve your overall well-being.

Many people with lipoedema struggle with their diagnosis of lipoedema and with the fact that it cannot be cured. Maybe it already took you a long time to get the diagnosis of lipoedema. It can be exhausting to find a Healthcare Professional who takes your disease seriously and whom you can trust.

Moreover, social media has reinforced the beauty ideal of a slim body. This makes it even more difficult to accept your body, that differs from this picture. Low self-esteem, anxiety, and depression are common in women with lipoedema. , and research shows that many lipoedema patients experience a high level of psychological distress immediately before the onset of the disease. Therefore, lipoedema might affect your daily work and social life, your relationships, and your leisure activities. However, mental distress can worsen your lipoedema symptoms, especially the perception of pain. Further, depression and stress disorders are associated with higher pain intensity. Therefore, you should not be afraid to seek psychological support.

"Psychological support can be an essential part of your lipoedema treatment."

Gabriele Erbacher, Lead Psychologist at Földi-Klinikpatient

Here are a few options you can consider for emotional wellness:

  • Choose a one-to-one dialogue with a therapist
  • Join a peer group
  • Learn about self-help tools and self-management

Therapeutic concepts based on mindfulness techniques or ‘Acceptance and Commitment Therapy‘ (ACT) can improve mental well-being and increase psychological flexibility.

Another concept combines psychological support with techniques that focus on your body and its relation to feelings and sensations. This is called ‘Embodiment-focused therapy’ and is known to have a calming effect.

There are different strategies for psychological support. Talk to your Healthcare Professional to learn more about different strategies, and to decide which one is right for you. Most important is that the relationship between you and your Healthcare Professional is based on empathy and understanding of what you’re going through.

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