Receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis when you’re young is overwhelming enough as it is. Add the need to exercise daily, attend a variety of medical appointments, and focus on your mental health to an already busy work schedule and it can feel like too much. Plus, if you don’t love your current career path, or you do but the demands exceed your energy and ON time, the possibility of changing careers or shifting roles at your age might feel like a pipe dream. But it’s not.
Heather Kennedy
Receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis when you’re young is overwhelming enough. Being a woman with a Parkinson’s diagnosis adds an additional…
Receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis when you’re young is overwhelming enough. Being a woman with a Parkinson's diagnosis adds an additional layer of complexities and challenges. Watch our YOPD Women's Council discuss their unique road to their Parkinson's diagnosis and their take on their symptoms and symptom management.
The YOPD Council discusses changing careers and finding more meaning after diagnosis
Receiving a Parkinson’s diagnosis when you’re young is overwhelming enough as it is. Add the need to exercise daily, attend a variety of medical appointments, and focus on your mental health to an already busy work schedule and it can feel like too much. Plus, if you don’t love your current career path, or you do but the demands exceed your energy and ON time, the possibility of changing careers or shifting roles at your age might feel like a pipe dream. But it’s not.
One of the things that nobody ever tells you when you get a Parkinson’s diagnosis is how much of your time will be spent managing medications, adhering to schedules, and tracking side effects and symptoms. Hint: It’s a lot.
when a woman is diagnosed with YOPD, you can add challenges related to contraception, pregnancy, menstruation, menopause, hormones, body image, aging, and more, to their plate.
During our monthly YOPD Women sessions, we’ll address all of those topics with the help of doctors, specialists, and our YOPD Women Council leaders.
Approximately 50-60% of people living with Parkinson’s experience varying levels of depression and anxiety, and nearly all deal with loss. During this YOPD Council session, the eight members of our Council discussed how they have dealt with depression and anxiety; strategies that have worked and those that haven’t to get into a better headspace; tools for managing feelings of loss, how to communicate issues of mental health to friends, family, and care teams;
how to manage anticipatory grief in yourself and others; and more.
Should you or shouldn’t you apply for disability? Short-term or long-term? Do you even have a choice? Applying and receiving disability benefits can be a complicated, confusing, and highly frustrating process. As can figuring out insurance, Medicare, and everything else that involves navigating the healthcare system. Luckily our YOPD Council has a lot to offer on these topics.
Feature by Heather Kennedy, Davis Phinney Foundation YOPD Council Leader