Posted by Fi on January 2, 2002, at 5:41:44
In reply to I act too normal., posted by mist on January 2, 2002, at 2:29:13
Its really tough,isnt it? Having something so disabling that people can't see, and that fluctuates sometimes.
I know people with visible disabilities sometimes have a hard time (eg in wheelchairs or blind) because of the way people treat them. But those without a visible one get treated badly too. Its the same for deaf people. And I've spoken to people with MS whose main symptom is fatigue which comes and goes, and they get exactly the same reaction from others as you do.
When I've been feeling appalling, my therapist has said that there is no external sign of the distress. I'm just a bit quiet and pale. And I know its the same with my mother, who has had more severe depression.
Its great in a way to not have the world know about your problem, but I wish there was a way we could choose to give people a glimpse when we want to. We're stuck with trying to describe it verbally, which meets with a variable degree of understanding but is worth trying. Where there is something slightly similar they have experienced, it helps a lot to compare it (eg the exhaustion of flu, the anxiety before an exam, the sadness of grief). But some of the other symptoms are harder to compare.
Unless you find out that they have also been depressed, of course, in which case even if they have experienced it in a different way, they know its something very difficult to cope with.
One good thing about this Board is not having to act normal!
Lots of luck.
Fi
poster:Fi
thread:16130
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20020102/msgs/16133.html