Why I Share So Many Stories About My Chronic Illnesses

I’m often asked why I share so many stories about my chronic illnesses on social media. The answer is quite simple: to spread awareness. 

When you’re faced with an incurable disease, you’re left feeling hopeless and want to find a way to bring awareness of the importance of advocating for such diseases.

Without awareness, we won’t receive funding, which means we won’t find a cure we’re so desperately seeking. By advocating and sharing my stories, I feel like I’m being proactive in finding a cure.

Beyond being an advocate, sharing information with my friends and family also helps them to better understand the conditions I face in my daily life. So many people have never heard of my illnesses, such as lupus or Sjogren’s syndrome. Sharing lets my loved ones in on what I battle every day of my life. I’ve been able to educate and open lines of communication with family, friends and even complete strangers just by sharing one story, which is amazing.

Please know I’m not seeking pity or sympathy. It’s simply my way of sharing and fighting for a cure. For some of us, social media is our only means of being able to feel as though we’re helping to find a cure.

By sharing information pertaining to our conditions, you can empathize with our situation, and hopefully, you will help join in our fight. If nothing else, reading an article your friend or loved one has posted shows you care and that you’re in this battle with them, which is an amazing feeling for those fighting these incurable diseases.

Lead photo source: Thinkstock Images