Made Visible: A Podcast

BEING CHRONICALLY ILL MEANS SUFFERING INVISIBLY. #InvisibleIllness #invisibledisease #MadeVisible #ChronicIllness

“I’m Fine!”

How are you feeling today?
A question that I dread.
How’re you still alive?
You stay all day in bed?

You’ve been through so much my dear-
Are you still in pain?
You’re walking so steadily now,
are you sure you need a cane?

Or how about all the meds you take,
tell me, what are you prescribed?
How’s your diet? How’s your bloodwork?
Do you feel depressed?…
To me, you look just fine!

Have you seen the doctor?
Are you eating?- Are you sure?
My sister has the same disease,
drank water now she’s cured!

I really want to tell them;
I have no energy-
to go over all my symptoms
for curiosity.

So this is why I tell you,
why I feel inclined…
to answer them politely,
smile and say,”I’m Fine!”

#MitochondrialDisease #RareDisease #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome #SjogrensSyndrome #HashimotosThyroiditis #ChronicPain

A dear friend and I were catching up last night. We have the shared experience of having to go Low / No Contact with family and were discussing the difficulty of talking about these experiences that exist outside of the realm of cookie cutter Hallmark Cards. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but it is hard to prepare yourself for the inevitable moment where you might have to explain that while you do have family, they are not in your life. I suppose I am “lucky” in that I think if I tell someone, it’s because my mother maliciously reported me to the police hoping to get me into trouble with the law—most people will accept this as a valid reason.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a conversation I’m looking forward to having or that I should have to justify myself to others. So when I stumbled upon this term “exulansis”, my immediate thought was that it’s nice to know there is a term for this overlooked state of being. The second was how apt it is for many of us Mighties—because we so often feel forced by a lack of public awareness and support, to minimise or not talk about what we are going through.

Negative experience teaches us it is safer to be guarded.

In terms of my own family situation, I know that there are many people who would invoke the dreaded “blood is thicker than water” trope. And I’m certain I’m not alone in having to gain this knowledge through baptism by hellfire—that this is not the case for all families. Some of us, are made to keep our place in the family performatively. Whether it is having to parent our parents, being treated like an ATM, minimising our own needs in favour of their wants, or simply putting up with ongoing abuse—some of us are made to “earn” the love of our parents, that should be given unconditionally.

And this lack of support from our supposed nearest and dearest can extend to so many aspects of our lives… from who we love; who we are and who we aren’t; invalidation of our chronic illness; or being shamed and shunned because of mental health that can often result from these same dysfunctional relationships. Whatever the reason, the result is that we resign ourselves to stop talking about aspects of our lives, because we know that others either will not, or cannot, understand it.

I think we all have some invisible chains holding us back, that stop us from feeling truly free. Why not cast some of the weight off and name some of your chains in the comments?

#MadeVisible #Loneliness #Relationships #Abuse #Depression #ChronicFatigue #Lupus #Fibromyalgia #MentalHealth #DistractMe #MyCondition #PTSD #Addiction #ADHD #Anxiety #ChronicPain #Selfharm #Grief #Trauma #FamilyAndFriends #CheckInWithMe #MightyTogether

Choose each day to forgive yourself, you are human, imperfect, learning and growing.
YOU ARE WORTHY OF LOVE.
There is no sense in punishing your future by living in the mistakes of your past. Forgive yourself for not knowing what you didn’t know before you learned it.
Take heart in the knowledge, strength, and growth opportunities each trial inevitably teaches you--and move on.
There is no one you will talk to more than yourself. Be kind, loving, understanding, compassionate, and supportive.
Your relationship with yourself sets the tone for every other relationship that you have.
And remember:
🌻 The past can’t be changed, but the future is full of possibilities.
✋🏻 Opinions don’t define your reality.
🤗 Everyone’s journey is different
🤔 Overthinking will usually lead to sadness.
😊 Happiness is found within.
💭 Your thoughts affect everything about you.
😁 Smiles are contagious.
🫶🏻 Kindness is free.
👌🏻👉🏻 It’s okay to let go and move on.
🥠 People usually end up with what they truly deserve in the end.
⏳ Have patience. Things get better with time.
❤️🐈‍⬛❤️🐈❤️
🫂 Hugs!!
🌹Pennee
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#MentalHealth
#MentalHealthAwareness
#mentalhealthrecover
#MotivationalQuotes
#AddictionRecovery
#healthhopehealing
#Anxiety
#Depression
#AnorexiaNervosa
#EatingDisorders
#BulimiaNervosa
#Selfharm
#ADHD
#ObsessiveCompulsiveDisorder
#PTSD
#ASK
#listen
#NewBeginnings
#MadeVisible
#CheerMeOn
#MightyMoment
#Love
#keepgoing
#Positivity
#itsokaytobenotokay
#itsokaytobeokay
#youareneveralone
#forgive
#Selfcare
#Selflove

For every person in our lives that left us in the horrible ways that they did-
We have new, amazing friendships forged here.

For every person that treats us despicably-even family, friends, and even medical professionals, and adds layers onto our other related past traumas we have been healing from, we only have to open The Mighty app and reach out to each other and we can count on the most beautiful, empathetic souls reaching back to be by our side so fast.

For every morning we wake up with pain coursing through our bodies and/or our minds from illnesses that are beasts, together we pull from each others’ inspiration and strength and we fight through each day as the warriors that we have become.

For any time we feel so alone in this, we can always post or join in a conversation here and see that we are never fighting our fight alone/never dealing with the hard blows of this kind of life alone.

For any time situations in our life cause very real anxieties that are overwhelming for anyone to handle, there is an army of us right here living in solidarity to help quell our anxieties.

For anytime we feel like we don’t exist, that we aren’t seen, that we aren’t valued and valuable, so many of us Mighties will always quickly let us know how incredibly important each of us are, and how cared about we all are by so many of us from all places around the world.

And this is all a great, bright light from the darkness. This is all a comforting balm to soothe the pain coursing through our bodies and our minds.
This is what makes us all rich instead of feelings of living in scarcity.
These are all the gifts that we have been given that is greater than any gift you could ever think you wanted.

We are each others’ wings that allow us to soar above it all.

Sorrow won’t be finding us no more when we know all of these things.
Emptiness and hopelessness cannot exist when we know these things.
We have so much to be joyful about.

Let us all keep seeing all of the beauty and gifts from the pain.

Let us all keep rising stronger together and show this world all of the greatness that we are, even on our worst days.

Let us all continue to save each other and continue to save ourselves.
That ultimately is the power we have and the responsibility we have - it ultimately is up to us to be the change that we want for ourselves and for others.

#ChronicIllness #ChronicDepression #MajorDepression #MajorDepressiveDisorder #ChronicPain #ChronicFatigue #MadeVisible #TreatmentresistantDepression #PTSD #Pain #hurt #Selfharm #BeTheChange #IAmTheChange #IfYouFeelHopeless #Hope #Insomnia #Disability #MightyTogether #Anxiety #AnxietyAttack #SuicidalIdeation #SuicidalThoughts #SuicidePrevention #positive #Positivity #Loss #Grief #Healing #alone #lonely #Stronger #SocialAnxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #BipolarDepression

My doctor (PCP) laughed in my face at my treatment-resistant major depressive disorder disabilities last night at my appointment - it was a joke to him! He ridiculed me, demeaned me, and it’s not the first time he or other doctors were not a proper medical professional when I went to them for professional care.

This one last night did this all while throwing out new physical illnesses names at me that I probably have but needs to be confirmed by bloodwork taken last night.

So, I’m much sicker Physically now and once again I cannot go back to this doctor and I haven’t yet, in all these many years, been able to find one who is a compassionate human, let alone a professional who knows what they are doing.

It should go without saying that we deserve to be treated so much better and many of us just are not, and it shatters me for all of us.

This shouldn’t be in our hands alone to Warrior through because of disgraceful doctors that show us that they are numb and apathetic to what they took a professional oath to do and that they chose to go through many vigorous years of schooling to help us, not make us worse and actually hurt us.

We shouldn’t have to keep picking up our shattered pieces of ourselves and putting ourselves back together time and again because there are way too many people, including medical professionals, who do not have a moral compass. #MightyTogether #ChronicPain #Insomnia #ChronicFatigue #MultipleHealthChallenges #PTSD #Trauma #warrior #MentalHealth #mentalhealthmatters #MentalHealthAwareness #MadeVisible #Support #Depression #ChronicDepression #MajorDepressiveDisorder #TreatmentresistantDepression #Anxiety #MyCondition #MajorDepression #MedicalProfessionals #MedicalPtsd

We spent time yesterday reflecting on 2021. Today, we'll work on setting health and wellness goals for the new year. Share at least one wellness goal (physically, mentally or emotionally) that you want to achieve in 2022 and how will you do it?

#Diabetes #DiabetesType1 #DiabetesType2 #prediabetes #ChronicIllness #AutoimmuneDisease #MentalHealth #NewYear #Goal #MadeVisible #Lifestyle #Health

Have you achieved your goals this week? What were your wins? Is there anything you need to work on?

#Diabetes #DiabetesType1 #DiabetesType2 #prediabetes #ChronicIllness #AutoimmuneDisease #MadeVisible #Goal #MentalHealth #accountability #Health #Lifestyle #MightyTogether