Maintain a strong support network
Shortness of breath may make you feel tempted to stay home and isolate yourself, but don’t. You’ll need time for yourself and it’s important to know your limits, but it’s just as important to stay in touch with friends and family. Depression is a very big risk to PF patients, and feelings of malaise can be exacerbated by isolation. It’s also a good idea to see if there’s a support group in your neighborhood that you can join. To have other people that either know exactly what you’re going trough or are experiencing similar problems can be incredibly comforting. There you can share aspects of the disease that you might not be comfortable discussing in other places.

Stay positive
This is often the hardest part for most patients. Be positive, have hope, tell yourself “today might not have been the best, but I’ll try again tomorrow.”

This will be the most exhausting, demanding, and challenging to accomplish. It will take more out of you than any other step we mentioned here, but it will also be the one that gets you through the rougher days and helps you cope.

MORE: 7 Reasons Why Pulmonary Rehabilitation is Important for PF Patients

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