Chronically Ill People Don't "Get used to it" Here's what really happens.
A Convenient Myth
There is a convenient myth that chronically ill people "get used to it." That a chronically ill person in pain isn't suffering the same as you would be in that circumstance because they've "adjusted."
This is used by medical practitioners to justify denying symptom management to chronic illness patients because "The problem is chronic you could never stop the medication. You just have to get used to it."
But you never "get used to" severe pain. You never "get used to" bone-crushing fatigue, or miserable nausea.
Here's what "getting used to it" really means...
-----
When you say we "got used to it" we really
-Stopped attempting things we know are impossible due to our illness
-Made our life smaller to deal with symptoms
-Accepted our illness because we have no other choice.
-Stopped articulating our pain and symptoms because we know it won't lead to help.
-------
When we "got used to it" it doesn't mean
-It got easier
-It got less painful
-It got less disruptive
-We don't still need help
-------
We didn't get used to it.
We became numb to trauma.
We gave up on getting help.
We learned to survive because we had no other choice.
------
Not to mention the many who tried to self-delete because they couldn't "get used to it" and are only here because they failed.
Not to mention the many people who are gone and will never "get used to it."
------
Chronic pain kills.
Neglect of chronically ill patients, lack of palliative care, lack of CARE kills.
Chronic pain patients are 5x more likely to die by their own hand.
------
We don't "get used to it."
We get used to being dismissed, neglected, and ignored by medical professionals and society.
We get used to living tiny lives bound by our broken bodies.
We get used to pasting together the shattered pieces of our lives, over and over again.
We get used to surviving the unimaginable and the unbearable.
But we never get used to the symptoms, the pain, and the longing for life beyond our beds and walls.
-----
We don't "get used to it."
You get used to our suffering.
-----
Read more by @katie_andm.e
This post was inspired by Katie's amazing recent post "You never get used to it..." Please head over to her account to check it out.
Katie is an incredible young woman and writer with very severe ME. Her kindness and persistence in making her voice heard despite severe personal suffering is deeply admirable. Her account details so many of our day-to-day struggles as well as offering insightful perspectives. I highly recommend it!
