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Practical Gift Ideas for Someone with Chronic Illness
I hope this list of practical gifts for chronic illness is a helpful guide, whether you’re looking for Christmas, birthday, or “just because” gift suggestions. I’m also sharing four tips for choosing practical gifts for chronic illness.
My health conditions include fibromyalgia, POTS (a form of dysautonomia), myalgic encephalomyelitis (aka chronic fatigue syndrome), and asthma. I know that it can be challenging to know what will be helpful for those of us dealing with limitations due to our health, especially those of us with a lot of allergies. I’m sharing some things I’ve found particularly helpful, things I’ve been gifted, and things on my wishlist. (You can read more about my health journey here.)
Before we dive into gift suggestions, here are helpful tips for gift giving to keep in mind when your recipient has chronic health conditions.
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A Chronic Illness Gift Guide Based On Love Language
Gifts are extra-special if you gear them towards your friend or loved one’s love language. I’ve compiled ideas to help you do just that in this chronic illness gift guide!
Those of us with all the complexities and uncertainties of chronic illness can often feel misunderstood and even invisible, so it’s especially meaningful when you take the time to tailor a gift for us.
As I mentioned in my post about easy, low-cost gift ideas, picking a gift based on someone’s love language helps them to feel seen and understood.
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Low-Cost Low-Stress Gift Giving When You’re Chronically Ill
As Christmas approaches, I wanted to share some ideas for inexpensive and low-stress gift giving. Being chronically ill often means you’re watching your budget and conserving energy, so spending a lot of time and money hunting for gifts is not a great idea. The point is to let those you love know you are thinking of them and care about them, and a simple, well-chosen gift can do that perfectly! So I’ve rounded up ideas that are low cost, or easily made without using up all your energy.
The best way I’ve found to give meaningful gifts is to make sure I’m gifting something in someone’s love language. If you’ve never read The Five Love Languages, I highly recommend it! (I read the original, but there is a singles edition, and other versions available too.) The book breaks down the way people best receive love into five categories: Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch.
My default way to show love is through gift-giving, so in years past I’ve created a lot of stress for myself by thinking I have to find the *perfect* gift.
