Misconceptions about Chronic Illness

I think when people hear that someone has a chronic illness there's a stigma and we automatically get stereotyped. I want to share some myths that I have seen the chronic illness community have to face and fight alongside their illness.

1. We don't want to work. The truth is we DO want to work. We want to be able to function like a "normal" person, but are unable to due to pain and/or other symptoms. Chronic pain takes a toll on our bodies and makes it difficult to do every day tasks. We have to do what is best for our bodies even if that means not doing something we really want to do like working. We don't like asking for help, but if we can't work, we have to ask for help.
2. We don't know or understand what is going on with our bodies. The truth is we DO know and understand what's going on with our bodies, probably better than many of our doctors do. Despite this, many of our doctors won't listen to us, which prolongs our pain and symptoms. This is extremely difficult to deal with.
3. We have all bad days so if we have a good or better day we must be faking. The truth is we do have days that are better than others. We have days where our symptoms decrease from the previous day. This doesn't mean we are faking. Maybe we were able to catch up on some rest that our body needed and don't feel as tired or as much pain. This doesn't mean our fatigue or pain disappeared.
4. There's a cure for the chronic illness(es) we have. The truth is many chronic illnesses don't have cures; they have treatments that can decrease symptoms or slow down the progression of the disease. 
5. We did this to ourselves. The truth is we didn't do this to ourselves. We didn't ask for this. We want to be able to function "normally" every day, but we just can't. That's something that's hard enough to accept without people making us feel like it's somehow our fault that we have a chronic illness.
6. We are lazy/don't want to do anything. The truth is we want to be able to go out with our family and friends. We want to be able to go horseback riding, hiking, etc., but sometimes we just can't. We have to listen to our bodies, which is hard enough for us to do without people trying to make us feel guilty for not doing something they want us to do.
7. We don't look like we are in pain. The truth is we have been in pain for so long, we've become good at hiding it. This doesn't mean we aren't in pain. What's the "right" way to look in pain anyways?

I hope you find this information helpful.

Take care,
💛Samantha