Whenever we think of stress relief and self-care, the same ideas seem to come up. You’ve seen the articles, and I’ve written my share of them. Meditation, mindfulness, hydration, engaging in exercise, and getting enough sleep usually top the list. These things are good ideas, of course, and they do work.

The downside to this is that people have found a way to monetize stress relief and self-care. (Hydroflasks and Stanley cups, anyone?) We can pay for apps, spa days, supplements, self-help books, and day planners, among other things. However, it’s perhaps unrealistic to think we can throw money at the deeply seated problems in our lives and expect miraculous results.

I keep seeing this term “healthy” being used in research papers and in discussion online. 

“Healthy individual,” “healthy lifestyle,” “healthy diet,” “healthy foods.” I don’t know what these phrases mean. There’s certainly not one definition for these ideas. 

There’s one question that I’ve been asked many times, and it’s one that I also ask others when I conduct interviews:

“What advice would you give to people who are newly diagnosed with Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis?”

I see the importance of getting both new and veteran patients to give their experience with a new diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). It might be fair to say that most people, in hindsight, whether this is weeks or decades later, can point out where their journey could have been improved.