When I was 10 my brother died. It was my first major grief process and unsurprisingly it has stuck with me through the years. One thing...

"A dynamic disability is a disability that tends to fluctuate in severity (pain, energy, etc…) in a difficult to predict manner. Those...

Early in 2016 I found myself strapped to a table waiting to be tilted until I passed out. It sounds like a medieval torture device but it...

I keep seeing this thing in medical discourse about risks, specifically risks of death. It’s phrased something like this: “most of the...

In Pennsylvania, where I live, we have been on some version of a lockdown for the last 5 months or so. People have responded to these...

One thing that chronic illness patients always have to learn is pacing. Eventually everyone has to learn pacing but the healthy can...

I’ve struggled with anxiety for my entire adult life. I’ve been in therapy for it (with the same therapist) for about 8 years now. Over...

Americans have, on the whole, been asked to stay home for the time being. The goal of this is to slow down the spread of the COVID-19...

We have been asked to practice social distancing to try to “flatten the curve” of the COVID-19 virus. What this means for most of us...

COVID-19 was recently declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) and many states and counties are limiting gatherings of...

In The Kingdom Of The Sick by Laurie Edwards (2013) is a social history of chronic illness. Edwards explores both historical and modern...

Setbacks can be incredibly frustrating. Everyone has experienced a setback of some sort in their lives. Sometimes it’s a lost job, or an...

1. The Weird Symptom Stage. You have weird symptoms but you don’t know yet that what you are experiencing isn’t normal. For me this stage...

Many of us have heard that we should get out in nature more, whether from doctors, therapists, or just a concerned friend. This advice is...

I wanted to write about some of the weirder things that have actually helped a lot with some of my medical problems. We are all bombarded...

I have a kind of depression called Dysthymia or Persistent Depressive Disorder. It’s a kind of depression that has less of the ups and...

I’m a big fan of music. My family always had music on in the background when I was growing up. As an adult I have used music over and...

Approximately 10% of adults at any given time are experiencing neck pain. I have personally had neck pain for about 3 years now, since a...

I’ve been in a bit of a weird place lately when it comes to mental health. For those inclined to worry about me-don’t worry, I’m fine....

Living with chronic illnesses can make it hard to find activities that both you and the people around you can enjoy. It can be hard to...