"Are you depressed?"

I hate when people assume that because I have fibromyalgia I must be depressed. The commercials tend to say that I am. They don’t know where it came from but the leading theories are it was a traumatic event or that it happened slowly over a life of stress.  So if this were the case, then I must be depressed because it’s all psychological…

Most people don’t know the history of the diagnosis of autism, it started out that the mother was blamed. She was blamed for not being loving enough to her child in a crucial part of their development. This was the theory, for way too long, a theory created by a man, ironically. Eventually this has been proven not to be the case, but for all those mothers who felt like it was their fault, bearing the burden of the blame having society blaming them, medical science did not know at the time what they were doing or saying. Most Chronic pain diseases with no traceable root are considered psychological, until otherwise proven.

In ancient times, and even in the depths of the rain forests still today, when someone was sick, it was believed that a witch had cursed them. There would be a hunt for the witch, and then once found that person would be put to death. My point here is simple; when we don’t know the causes of something it’s really easy to make assumptions.

Do I get sad, or upset, of course! I get frustrated with myself when I can’t accomplish everything that I had wanted to, and feel limited by my pain and fatigue. Sometimes I push so hard that the repercussions later are not worth it, it can take me days to recover by trying to restructure my days. But I hate to “waste” the day that I have and there is always where the conflict ensues.

Basically I am at a point where I wish I knew why this was going on, because maybe if I did, it would stop. We think that in this day and age medical science has all the answers. I really don’t believe that they do. The next time you meet someone with a condition that you think that you understand, take two steps back because maybe you don’t. And no, I’m not depressed, I’m Joanna!