I ducked into a local coffee shop today to use the restroom and had a lengthy inner dialogue about my expertise and ability to write a Zagat guide to the cleanest/best bathrooms that my fine city has to offer. Just as I was rounding the corner to the restroom, I ran into a father administering a blood glucose monitor into his (very calm) son’s finger. The boy could not have been older than 5 and took the prick (ouch!) like a man of 35. Once his father had read the rating, they walked back into the cafe and resumed life as usual. My inner dialogue began a new discussion.
As we leave behind the third annual World Crohn’s and Colitis Day I can’t help but notice that there is still a bit of ground to gain in the fight against many “silent” illnesses. Maybe they wanted a quieter place to test, but why should a diabetes sufferer (and his father) feel the need to leave the room to test himself?
I know why—it’s the same stigma that makes me feel the need to administer my Humira behind a closed door and hide the other meds I need to take deep in my purse or backpack. It’s the same rationale that makes me feel like a fugitive when I’m on a high-dose of prednisone and don’t want to be judged for the weight it throws on my frame and face (aka fugu/pufferfish).
Does anyone else feel this way too? You must...right?
Monday, May 25, 2009
The things we hide. (part 1)
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3 comments:
I agree. It is definitely wrong. Does it have to do with folks not wanting to face reality or does it have to do with the getting weird looks and people talking about you. I think it might have less to do with society, which will be impossible to change and more to do with the individual themselves. If we just stop caring what people think and be as respectful as possible, maybe it will not be so odd. Example: Drinking in Europe is legal when you are like 16 or 18 or something like that...they have far less drunk driving deaths than us because it is "forbidden" until you are 21 here. Just something to think about. Great post.
Maybe an incoming Supreme Court Justice could help raise awareness.
Mental illness is perhaps too silent of an illness as there is no quantitative test to diagnose and few examples in the public media of normal functional people who take psychiatric meds.
With friends and work you can either come out about it and deal with the stigma or keep quiet and try to pretend absences, doctors appointments, and pills are for something more sexy like cancer. There is a huge different in the way you are treated.
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