When your chronic pain becomes an inconvenience to others. I hate your guts and that’s why I decided to be sick. I thought for a long time about how I could make you suffer. There are the usual methods, but they just seemed too easy. I don’t like to do things the easy way,…Continue reading When your chronic pain becomes an inconvenience to others
Tag: mental health
Practicing self care with chronic illness
Self care with chronic illness always feels like an oxymoron, but what is self care? The WHO 1998 definition is: ‘Self-Care is what people do for themselves to establish and maintain health, and to prevent and deal with illness. It is a broad concept encompassing hygiene (general and personal), nutrition (type and quality of food eaten),…Continue reading Practicing self care with chronic illness
7 ways to distract yourself from pain
Pain often takes over everything, it demands to be felt. Despite what the people who think pain isn’t real think, pain acceptance does not make the pain go away. So here’s a few suggestions that might help to distract you from the pain for a short time. A relaxing salt bath A bath can be…Continue reading 7 ways to distract yourself from pain
5 things to remember when you’re having a good day
I’ve been feeling really good lately. Not normal good, but good for me. For the first time in a year and a half, I do not have a kidney stone and so I’m only dealing with my normal health problems. After multiple kidney stone episodes, my normal problems make me feel like I’m on top…Continue reading 5 things to remember when you’re having a good day
Why no one cares about chronic illness, part 3
Read my much angrier part 1 and part 2 for background context of this post. I’ve learned a lot about humanity through having a chronic illness. When you’re sick you really see the best and the worst of human beings. I have been on the receiving end of some wonderful service, and I have also been…Continue reading Why no one cares about chronic illness, part 3
To the person with chronic illness that feels like they can never measure up
I know it feels like no one thinks about you, the quiet person in the corner who just looks a little tired. No one notices how hard you try or how much effort you put into pretending you’re okay. Sometimes it feels like they only notice you when you make a mistake, or when your…Continue reading To the person with chronic illness that feels like they can never measure up
You can’t just “try harder” when you live with chronic pain
People with chronic pain are constantly told that they need to try harder or put more effort into fixing their pain. For example, I found myself walking out of a meeting recently. It wasn’t a situation where anyone was trying to be insensitive or judgmental, and I wasn’t being criticized. Everyone speaking had the best…Continue reading You can’t just “try harder” when you live with chronic pain
5 “helpful” things that don’t really help people with chronic illness
1. Saying things like, “But you don’t look sick”! It’s really nice of you to say that I look good, but I have an invisible illness. You can’t see my pain, but believe me it is there. On a regular day I’m in more pain than most people could ever imagine, but I’m very good at…Continue reading 5 “helpful” things that don’t really help people with chronic illness
Positive thinking is a coping mechanism, not a cure
No one would ever accuse me of being an optimistic person. If you ask me if the glass is half empty or half full, I’d say that it has water in it. My family likes to tell me I’m like Eeyore because I was depressed in high school (because four years of depression in your teen…Continue reading Positive thinking is a coping mechanism, not a cure
The power of music therapy for chronic pain
I grew up in a family where music was very important. In fact the ability to read music was considered an essential skill that must be developed. From a young age my afternoons involved listening to my sisters practice piano and soon enough my turn came to take piano lessons. I hated every minute of…Continue reading The power of music therapy for chronic pain