4 things I Wish People Knew about Chronic Illnesses

Carole Abalekpor

August 14, 2024

•  Just because you do not see it does not mean it is not real.

The concept of Invisible illnesses still seems to baffle some people. Something like MS may or may not have physical symptoms, but the disease overall affects your spine and brain by damaging the Myelin of the nerves, in turn disrupting the communication between your brain and other parts of your body. Though you cannot actively see this process happening, this can obviously affect someone in a very real way.

•  There is no “Miracle Cure.”

There are plenty of things that can be cured with alternative medicine, i.e., honey to help with symptoms of a cold, or vapor rub for a stuffy nose. Unfortunately, chronic illness is often a lifelong struggle and thought there are different treatment options to help lessen symptoms, providing suggestion on how you cured your minor sickness does not necessarily help, and may even make someone with Chronic illness feel worse.

•   I am not lazy; I am just struggling to function.

People with Chronic illness often feel as if they need to hide their symptoms because of the judgement from other people, sometimes diminishing your pain by saying “it’s not that bad” or insinuating that we are using it as an excuse, on the other hand, there is also the stigma of being viewed as weaker and “less than”. Someone suffering from a chronic illness may look ok on the outside, but they could be struggling to function throughout the day. It takes a lot of effort to manage chronic illness!

•  It is ok to be Sad, It Sucks

For a lot of people, a diagnosis like this can be shocking, I mean after all, you just thought the doctor would have a simple explanation for all the symptoms you were having. It is ok to be sad, even angry about this! There is no time limit to grieving the person you were before this life changing event.

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