A Family That Heals Together Strengthens its Unity
This story is informed by sickness that was in my family on two major occasions: firstly, for close to one year my mom suffered of an excruciating headache that just refused to heal. It called for all family members to liaise with each other and ensure we monitored her progress. Secondly, my brother also got involved in a road accident that required all of us to come together, offer help and support.
A healing journey is not limited to the sick individual in the family. Rather, it affects every member of the family. Not knowing how to handle sickness in the family can increase problems caused by misunderstanding. This is often confused for selfishness and unconcern. Healing together as a family positively influences everyone in the following ways.
Creates awareness
When families work jointly towards the healing process, all members start to understand what the sickness entails. They learn a lot about the sickness and the necessary support for the sick person.
The health care providers bring each member up to speed on all that the sickness appertains. Reading more around the topic of the actual disease contributes to this awareness. As a result, the family members will portray empathy towards their beloved.
Enables understanding
Purposing to heal together as a family boosts understanding. It strengthens the support structure. Each member is better able to support one another and the sick member. It makes the recovery process smooth, as everyone understands what the loved one is going through.
Imposes healthy limits
Healing together helps family members realize their boundaries. This is important to avoid or minimize instances of sending the wrong signals to the ill person. It guards against power struggles since every member knows their limits concerning behavior and actions towards the sick one and each other.
For instance, if it involves a recovering addict, no one will compromise on the set boundaries. They will know that doing so can cause the member to continue abusing substances. Healthy boundaries will extinguish fear, secrecy, and doing things behind everyone’s back.
Mends relationships
When you choose to heal together as a family, you spend more quality time evaluating your interpersonal relationships. It becomes a perfect time for family recovery through mending broken relationships.
The family explores past incidences of such relationships where parents take time to listen to their children and vice versa. The issues each person raises lead to discussion, forgiveness, and restoration. New productive connections emerge as the healing progresses.
Promotes self-care
The convergence of family members in the healing process helps every member complement each other. Since everyone participates in the caring of the loved one, each person has time for self-care without feeling guilty. This is very important because it can get quite overwhelming when all thoughts and actions focus on the sick person only.
It can lead to self-neglect which causes resentment and negative energy. As the family heals together, they should arrange for everyone’s quiet times. During this time, each member can explore their unique interests like gardening, reading books, or shopping.
Restores confidence
When family members work together towards the healing goal, they adequately deal with issues of insecurity. Insecure members, who realize that their efforts at this critical time are valued, tend to increase their self-esteem. This helps to restore their confidence.
Your loved one enjoys too
Working together as a family projects the right image towards the sick family member.
· It reduces the sick one’s healing time while strengthening him/her to handle tough situations better.
· He/she learns to face their fears head-on.
· He /she renews his/her hope for the hereafter.
· The family’s united front distracts the loved one’s mind so he/she does not have to dwell on the sickness all day long.
Healing together benefits every member of the family including the affected one. You can progress further by reading books of interest, watching inspirational videos, or listening to educative podcasts. Other activities include playing board games, exercising, and cooking together.
Needless to say, our experience with sickness in the family has strengthened our unity, knowing that we are all vulnerable and require one another in good and bad times.
