My Condition

I made this meme deliberately non condition specific, because I know too well how often people are quick to wheel out this trope for every conceivable condition—when understanding and support are often the thing we need most from those around us.

Grieving a loved one? ….Time to get over it and focus on the good things in your life.
Mental health issues? …. You need to stop focusing on the negative, and think more positively.
Suffer from insomnia? … Try meditation, and think more positive thoughts before going to bed.
Isolated by your health condition? … At least it’s not x, y, or z (silver lining throw away quip).
Chronic Pain? … You’d feel better if you concentrated less on the pain and more on the positives.
PTSD or Trauma? … You’re too sensitive. You can’t change the past, so why don’t you focus on the good things in your life now? (Trivialisation).

I’m sure there are many more I haven’t thought of—so if you feel comfortable, please share the ways in which you’ve been gaslit by others in the comments 🫶

#MyCondition #ChronicIllness #Grief #MentalHealth #Insomnia #ChronicPain #Migraine #Anxiety #GeneralizedAnxietyDisorder #PTSD #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #Fibromyalgia #ChronicFatigue #DistractMe #Addiction #Selfharm #Trauma #ComplexRegionalPainSyndrome #ChildLoss #ComplexPosttraumaticStressDisorder #MightyTogether

I often think about the things doctors say to us, and how different their response would be if they could see our ailments. The caption to this self portrait of Van Gogh, is something a doctor said to me when I was so unwell from medication induced hyperthyroidism that it caused me to develop a near fatal cardiac condition. I was so nauseous, losing weight and struggling to keep any food down, that I begged him to help me even after he gave me this dressing down.

I can’t help but wonder what the doctor would have said if I’d walked into my appointment, with clear indicators of being physically unwell. And I don’t mean things like needing a walking stick or a wheelchair, because those were later used against me as “evidence” to prove that I was using my symptoms to get attention.

Van Gogh cutting parts of his ear off… might raise some mental illness questions to this day. But I think it’s unlikely that any doctor would ignore the state of his ear, tell he’d brought it upon himself, and that he needed to go away and “live with the consequences” of his decision in quite the same way.

#ChronicIllness #Hyperthyroidism #HashimotosThyroiditis #MyCondition #ChronicFatigue #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #Fibromyalgia #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #Endometriosis #Arrhythmia #Dysautonomia #PeripheralNeuropathy #Migraine #PosturalOrthostaticTachycardiaSyndrome

I accidentally gave myself a double dose of MSM this morning which I think led to today’s flare, but this painting has got me wondering if Medusa was actually another misunderstood Spoonie 🤔

#DistractMe #ChronicFatigue #MyalgicEncephalomyelitis #Fibromyalgia #Lupus #LymeDisease #Endometriosis #EhlersDanlosSyndrome #CrohnsDisease #InflammatoryArthritis #MyCondition