Your reaction affirms the notion that people experience all sorts of reactions, some negative, some quite positive like yours. For some people sleep apnea is a fatal diagnosis. Not fatal in the sense of being sentenced to a physical death, but fatal to a previous comfortable life style with no mechanical interferences with sleep time and other bedroom activities. I can tell you from personal experience the four phases are not limited to dealing with death. They are quite commonly experienced when one encounters any kind of significant change in one's life, both negative and positive. Your reaction to your OSA diagnosis is not uncommon, but it is not universal. The grief of losing a comfortable lifestyle also is not uncommon, but it also is not universal.sleepy1235 wrote:Oh please!
Having sleep apnea is not a fatal diagnosis. The whole "shock, denial, depression, and acceptance" are the stages of dealing with a fatal diagnosis. My mother died of breast cancer, I know.
This is what happens with an apena diagnosis.
1. You find out that there is a root cause for why you are sleepy. It isn't because you are older. You are relieved.
2. You find out that there is a treatment and it is effective. You are overjoyed.
3. You use the CPAP machine and it works and you are resurrected and can get around doing stuff again. You are further happy.
4. You regret that you didn't find out years earlier.
Some people just like drama.
P.S. If I do get a fatal diagnosis I don't plan on acting out some drama of stoicism to be applauded by others. I am going cursing into the night, even if I live to be a 100.
This is not a situation where one size fits all, but it does fit a lot of folks.