Abstract
Chronic medical conditions affect a substantial proportion of the population and can involve considerable challenges, including recurrent pain, fatigue, stigma, and isolation. Accordingly, individuals living with chronic medical conditions are at high risk of psychological distress and mental illness. Given the bidirectional associations between physical and mental health, identifying malleable protective factors to improve well-being and daily functioning is a priority for this population. Available evidence suggests that self-compassion is one such factor. Among individuals with chronic medical conditions, self-compassion is consistently linked to more adaptive outcomes, including less shame, fewer health-risk behaviors, and less functional impairment. Moreover, preliminary evidence indicates that interventions that build self-compassion have potential to substantially improve outcomes in this high-risk group. This chapter reviews the available evidence linking self-compassion to mental and physical health outcomes among individuals living with chronic medical conditions. In addition to providing an overview of the literature, we discuss self-compassion in the context of three specific conditions: chronic pain, diabetes, and cancer. We conclude with recommendations for future research, including a call for more intervention research using physiological outcome measures, consideration of how self-compassion can be supported through existing systems in which those with chronic medical conditions are engaged, and consideration of how self-compassion interventions might be made more accessible.
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Finlay-Jones, A., Boggiss, A., Serlachius, A. (2023). Self-Compassion and Chronic Medical Conditions. In: Finlay-Jones, A., Bluth, K., Neff, K. (eds) Handbook of Self-Compassion. Mindfulness in Behavioral Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-22348-8_19
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