5 Things Every Person With Parkinson’s Should Avoid

1. Avoid escalators and take elevators, especially if you are prone to balance issues.
2. Avoid isolating yourself off from friends and family.
3. Avoid denial and get started helping yourself.
4. Avoid thinking that you have no choices.
5. Avoid the “why me” question.

Avoid escalators

Escalators are great modes of getting around for those of us without balance issues, those of us who don’t trip, and any neurological patient looking to face severe consequences. Broken bones and head trauma are not worth risking one’s life for what might be a brief convenience. Consider the elevator, and lower your risk of injury by choosing the elevator.

Avoid isolation

Support from family, friends, and a medical support team makes navigating the world of chronic illness easier. Sullen, quiet, angry, or bitter is only going to alienate you from receiving help and moving forward. Asking for help isn’t a weakness, but a realization that there are people out there with helpful information that might improve your condition.

Avoid denial

Denying your illness because you don’t want to accept it is only delaying your ability to start improving yourself. Once you can process that you might have something wrong, now, you can build a mindset that it’s time to get started seeking answers and solutions.

Avoid thinking you have no choices

Choices are always there, but sometimes it takes a fresh perspective to the situation to see those choices. Research and expanding our horizons can open new options that we may have once disregarded. A closed mind can vastly limit our potential.

Avoid asking yourself "why me" questions

Asking ourselves why we are the way we are can unleash deep questions, but probably won’t offer easy or immediate answers. A more proactive and productive path to moving forward is devoting yourself to educating yourself and others. Feeling sorry for oneself isn’t productive or healthy. Looking outward and feeling compassion for others can reduce those negative feelings that can only bring us down. Try not asking those questions that aren’t helpful. Maybe, the best question is, “How can I help myself or someone else?”.

There is so much to be done. Knowing the pitfalls to avoid and the services that are available to us can save us time and energy.