Book Review

The Chronic Illness Workbook
By Patricia A. Fennell, MSW, LCSW-R

The fact that multiple sclerosis affects each person differently is precisely what elevates The Chronic Illness Workbook to "must-have" status for anyone with MS.

Patricia A. Fennell identifies four progressive phases of change--crisis, stabilization, resolution, and integration--that likely occur for everyone dealing with chronic illnesses. The goal of this comprehensive book is to help people with chronic illnesses develop effective strategies to live their lives to the fullest.

Fennell, president of Albany Health Management Associates, Inc., uses concrete examples and well-crafted worksheets to guide readers step-by-step through self-discovery as they encounter each of these four phases. This approach encourages readers to assess and document their physical, mental, and emotional states both before and after their chronic illness diagnosis.

Such reflection allows readers to judge their own progress by making comparisons to themselves rather than to other people. This is an MS self-help book in the truest sense. Documenting personal feelings, abilities, desires, and ways of life also provides reference points to help the person recover from relapses, in both the disease and the four phases.

Throughout the book, readers are reminded that they are not facing their disease alone and should seek assistance from their friends, families, health-care professionals, and co-workers.

It is difficult to judge when it is appropriate for a person with a chronic illness to consult this book. There is no sugarcoating of the realities of living with chronic illnesses such as MS, fibromyalgia, or rheumatoid arthritis. But such brutal honesty has the potential of being counterproductive and self-defeating for a person who is newly diagnosed and slowly coming to terms with the diagnosis.

This point aside, The Chronic Illness Workbook successfully and compassionately helps people adjust to life with a chronic illness via self-discovered solutions for taking back their lives.

Reviewed by Dan Digmann, Gratiot County-area MS Self-Help Group leader, Alma, Michigan. From InsideMS. Reprinted with permission from The National MS Society.