Halloween season is here, which means much of the Halloween-celebrating-world is busy planning costumes, buying candy, and carving pumpkins. But living with a chronic health condition might mean these activities are more difficult for you. Maybe you have chronic fatigue that makes trick-or-treating a challenge or pain that makes costumes hard to wear. And few people realize how physically exhausting it can be to hang decorations!
So if you’d still like to participate in some Halloween traditions, you might find it helpful to modify them to fit your physical needs or even create your own illness-friendly activities. We asked our Mighty chronic illness community to share their “hacks” that help them have a fun Halloween. Check out their creative ideas below, and let us know in the comments if you have any tips and tricks to add.
Here’s what our community told us:
1. “I’ve ordered a onesie for Halloween. I can be comfy wearing PJs while at work (yay, we get to dress up) and while taking my 6-year-old niece around a few streets.” — Charlotte A.
2. “I get my stuff at the dollar store, so when it’s time to take down, I just rip it down and throw it away. Knowing this, makes it easier to get started!” — Kathryn S.
3. “Many of my decorations double for the rest of the autumn season so when Halloween is over, I only have to clean up a few Halloween-specific things. I also spend the whole month of October celebrating Halloween (watching horror movies, going to haunted houses, etc.) instead of trying to pack it all into one weekend. Lastly, I wear costumes that are loose fitting and don’t require a lot of intricacies. Instead of doing makeup, I wear a mask. Instead of doing my hair, I wear a wig. It makes it so much easier to enjoy the holiday when its not causing me pain.” — Brittany J.
4. “I save up as many spoons as I can in the days leading up to Halloween and make sure I have a few days free to do nothing afterwards, so when it comes to partying I can have fun… afterwards I just stay in bed and sleep as much as possible through the payback.” — Kitty T.
5. “My hack is literally the fact that Halloween is my Christmas and I’m obsessed with costumes. It takes over me, so I focus everything on it obsessively, all for one fab night out with friends. It gets me through an entire month of pain, anxiety, agorophobia, hyperhydrosis, a continuous migraine that hasn’t gone away for over a year, dysthymia (depression) and just generally keeps me on a high for the whole of October and part way through November, which makes a massive difference to me. It also gives me something to look forward to for a year… Halloween is my hack.” — Toni-Ericka K.
6. “My kids are still young so no skipping out. I make sure to wear comfy shoes with my costume. Map out our trick-or-treating areas so we don’t do any unnecessary walking. I wear stick-on hot patches under my clothes…