It’s not incurable but it’s difficult to treat. I’m not looking for pity, I’m looking to inform and hopefully for some understanding.
Two thirds of all people with the disease I have never seek treatment, never even speak about it because of the stigma that comes with it.
The WHO estimate that by 2020 this disease will be the number two cause of “lost years of healthy life” (disability) worldwide.
My disease is in the top 10 reasons of death worldwide, despite not being incurable, but due to the stigma of seeking help.
The disease isn’t directly genetic, but one can genetically be more susceptible to develop the disease.
It makes my immune system weak and can lead to such complications as lungcancer (without smoking) and cardiovascular disease (despite a good diet and exercise).
Chronic pain may be a symptom of the disease… Or a cause… Or both.
For some of us who develop this disease it’s situational for others it’s biochemical.
About 800.000 people die each year directly from this disease, world wide, the number of people who die from complications caused by the disease are unknown. Death is most common in adults (20+) but also occurs far too often in children (10-19).
There’s not demographic at more risk than any other worldwide, regardless if you’re from the richest 1% or the poorest 1%.
I am not my disease, I have this disease.
How many diseases have you contemplated so far?
Do you think my disease seems serious, do you think it seems like I should receive the treatment I need to live? Like I should receive the same respect as any other person with a fatal disease? Or do you think I should get of my ass and work as normal, as a healthy person?
It’s not an STD/STI (Sexually transmitted disease / infection), it’s not cancer, it’s not organ failure.
Two thirds of all people with the disease I have never seek treatment, never even speak about it because of the stigma that comes with it.
The WHO estimate that by 2020 this disease will be the number two cause of “lost years of healthy life” (disability) worldwide.
My disease is in the top 10 reasons of death worldwide, despite not being incurable, but due to the stigma of seeking help.
The disease isn’t directly genetic, but one can genetically be more susceptible to develop the disease.
It makes my immune system weak and can lead to such complications as lungcancer (without smoking) and cardiovascular disease (despite a good diet and exercise).
Chronic pain may be a symptom of the disease… Or a cause… Or both.
For some of us who develop this disease it’s situational for others it’s biochemical.
About 800.000 people die each year directly from this disease, world wide, the number of people who die from complications caused by the disease are unknown. Death is most common in adults (20+) but also occurs far too often in children (10-19).
There’s not demographic at more risk than any other worldwide, regardless if you’re from the richest 1% or the poorest 1%.
I am not my disease, I have this disease.
How many diseases have you contemplated so far?
Do you think my disease seems serious, do you think it seems like I should receive the treatment I need to live? Like I should receive the same respect as any other person with a fatal disease? Or do you think I should get of my ass and work as normal, as a healthy person?
It’s not an STD/STI (Sexually transmitted disease / infection), it’s not cancer, it’s not organ failure.
It’s depression.
Depression isn’t “just a cognitive state of mind”. I can “think away” my disease as much as a cancerpatient can (And you wouldn’t tell the latter that s/he can “think away” his her disease, but you’ll happily tell me, because obviously my disease isn’t real – oh wait, it is.).
I AM not depressed, I HAVE depression, just like a cancerpatient isn’t cancer, s/he has cancer. The significance may seem small to you, but to us it’s everything, if we identify as the disease rather than the person we’re far less likely to ever recover.
If the depression is situational (caused by an event or a situation – such as unemployment, family trauma, war, accidents or another disease) it doesn’t just go away when the situation has passed, the situation may haunt the person the rest of his or her life.
Depression isn’t “just a cognitive state of mind”. I can “think away” my disease as much as a cancerpatient can (And you wouldn’t tell the latter that s/he can “think away” his her disease, but you’ll happily tell me, because obviously my disease isn’t real – oh wait, it is.).
I AM not depressed, I HAVE depression, just like a cancerpatient isn’t cancer, s/he has cancer. The significance may seem small to you, but to us it’s everything, if we identify as the disease rather than the person we’re far less likely to ever recover.
If the depression is situational (caused by an event or a situation – such as unemployment, family trauma, war, accidents or another disease) it doesn’t just go away when the situation has passed, the situation may haunt the person the rest of his or her life.
Depression is often accompanied by one or more anxiety disorders, such as PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) – often associated with a situation, commonly war but also accidents or childhood/family trauma. GAD (General anxiety disorder) – which may cause anxiety for seemingly no reason at all. OCD (Obsessive compulsive disorder) – where you compulsively feel the need to do something a certain way or a certain amount of times, and if you do not get to do this you will have a panic attack.
Anxiety in itself can in fact cause longterm physical issues; Technically anxiety is a good thing, if you’re in the forrest and meet a bear or a pack of wolves, it triggers your fight or flight responses and prepares you to do just that, fight or flee. Problem is when this is triggered on the subway, at school, work, the grocery store, or even at home – in situations where you either don’t actually have a reason to feel this way or when you can’t get out of the situation (claustrophobia, bullying, family trauma etc.) and particularly when this happens again and again and again, perhaps you can switch the subway for the bus if that feels better for you, but work and school and home life you can’t just opt out of. What happens then is that this excessive amount of fight or flight hormones get absorbed by the body and longterm may cause physical issues such as heart disease or cancer.
Anxiety in itself can in fact cause longterm physical issues; Technically anxiety is a good thing, if you’re in the forrest and meet a bear or a pack of wolves, it triggers your fight or flight responses and prepares you to do just that, fight or flee. Problem is when this is triggered on the subway, at school, work, the grocery store, or even at home – in situations where you either don’t actually have a reason to feel this way or when you can’t get out of the situation (claustrophobia, bullying, family trauma etc.) and particularly when this happens again and again and again, perhaps you can switch the subway for the bus if that feels better for you, but work and school and home life you can’t just opt out of. What happens then is that this excessive amount of fight or flight hormones get absorbed by the body and longterm may cause physical issues such as heart disease or cancer.
Not everyone who has depression has anxiety disorders, not everyone who has an anxiety disorder has depression. Not everyone has manias.
I have persistant clinical depression with PTSD and GAD. My immune system is affected by this, therefor I’m often ill, or have migraines. It’s not that I don’t take things seriously; it’s that I’m ill. You wouldn’t blame a cancer patient, then why blame me?
**This does not mean I'm never happy. It simply means that I have other struggles than you***
/ Emelie
**This does not mean I'm never happy. It simply means that I have other struggles than you***
/ Emelie
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