The Role of Overactive Bladder Support
Overactive bladder (OAB) can be extremely stressful when symptoms are high. Even when symptoms are low, the anticipation of your future symptoms leaves you uncomfortable and anxious. At this point, OAB equals stress, and you want less of it. It's time to seek help for your overactive bladder.
When OAB is in your life, you look for every possible measure to feel better and keep your symptoms well controlled. What you need is support.
Supports come in many different shapes, sizes, and methods of delivery. What they have in common is the ability to improve your OAB symptoms and overall happiness in life.
People with high levels of stress often spend a significant amount of their resources trying to lower stress. This strategy is sound, but some stressors cannot be removed or resolved.
Because of this, working to improve your supports is the most efficient use of your time and limited abilities. If you can build your supports enough, they will offset the power of your stressors, and life will improve.
Types of Overactive Bladder Help
As mentioned, support comes in endless varieties. A few types of support include:
Social
The type of support that is usually synonymous with the term is social support. This level of support encapsulates all of the people you have positive relationships with, even if you do not interact with them on a daily basis.
Friends, family, teammates, roommates, bandmates, and coworkers all fit into this category. Even the last person on your social media friend list is a support, as long as they do not actively trigger stress.
Of course, pets can provide meaningful support, but like with all supports, a diverse social support group will yield the best payout.
Financial
Financial support may not receive much attention, but this support is an important one. If you are constantly in a financial crisis, your life will feel very stressful.
Financial support can be measured by your financial security based on income versus expenses.
Medical
When you have a significant medical condition like OAB, you need medical supports. These supports will be comprised of your medical treatment team.
They will include your primary care physician and specialists like urologists, gynecologists, urogynecologists, and others. These people will support with information, education, and treatment options that reduce levels of stress.
Mental Health
OAB is a physical condition with a strong link to mental health. It is possible that depression and anxiety can lead to increased symptoms of OAB, and OAB can lead to increased symptoms of depression and anxiety.
Seeking out mental health supports can be an overlooked but vital step in your treatment. Psychiatrists, psychologists, counselors, and social workers are all wonderful options to add to your team of supports. Each will have a number of available strategies to lower your stress and boost your functioning.
Spiritual
For many, spiritual health is a vital aspect of their overall wellbeing. These people benefit greatly from a form of spiritual support that fits with their belief system.
Meetings with religious leaders, attending religious services, meeting with others who have similar values, and prayers are a few methods to gain spiritual support. Even people without a strong religious affiliation can do well to find some sense of spiritual fulfillment as a support.
What Supports Do
Simply put, supports reduce stress. They melt away all of the frustrations of the day and leave you better prepared for what tomorrow has in store. Supports can:
- Help you relax
- Improve your perspective
- Distract you from your complicated life
- Offer feedback regarding your plans and decision-making skills
- Help you accept your condition
- Point you towards helpful treatments options for your mental or physical health
- Renew your sense of optimism and hope
- Provide a sounding board for you to voice your concerns and frustrations
Assessing and Adding Supports
Though varied, all types of support will help with your overactive bladder situation. Some people look at their life and find a lack of benefit from supports.
If this sounds like you, it could be caused by a problem with the quality or quantity of your overactive bladder help through supports. To add new or improve supports, consider:
- Assessing your supports accurately: just because someone has been in your life for a long time does not mean they are a support.
- Making modifications: if your support is poor and you are doing everything in your power to improve it, it may be time abandon that support. Before you do, though, focus on finding a replacement that can surpass the benefit of its predecessor.
- Adding new: you must be willing to take extra measures to acquire new supports. This can be done by declaring your intentions to your current supports or find new avenues of contact like social media.
You may take your supports for granted, or you may have given up on the idea of having supports completely. For anyone, supports are critically important to your health and wellbeing.
OAB zaps your resources as it adds stress. Combat these influences with the power of supports. The OAB will not disappear, but as your supports grow, your symptoms will seem to shrivel by comparison.