Life Lessons

Loss of Identity with Chronic Illness & The Plot Twist: Sharpened Self-Worth

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Chronic Illness & The Inevitable Loss of Identity Chronic illness has gnawed away at my self-identity, self-esteem and self-worth since it made its debut appearance in my life. Can I blame it? These are some of the best and juiciest cuts of a person. With the utterance of a single diagnosis – Antiphospholipid Syndrome – […]

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Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl: 16 Takeaways with Chronic Illness

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Content Warning: Contains mentions of the Holocaust, chronic illness, ableism, mental health issues, chronic pain and suffering. Disclaimer: This article is meant for educational purposes and is based on the author’s personal experiences and opinions. It is not to be substituted for medical advice. Please consult your own doctor or therapist before changing or adding […]

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How to be a Positive Thinker: Without the Unicorns & Rainbows

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Wait…What Did I Just Think? I woke up feeling like crap. One of those depressive days that arrive unannounced, bringing joint aches and other chronic pain friends along with it. “Today is a bad day”, was the very first thought that surfaced in my mind. Quite the positive thinker, as you can tell. And then, […]

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What I've Learned - Living with Chronic Illness for 20 Years (Interview on 'The Uninvisible Pod') | A Chronic Voice

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I recently had the pleasure of being interviewed over on The Uninvisible Pod, a podcast series hosted by Lauren Freedman. She herself lives with depression, anxiety, Hashimoto’s Disease and sleep disorders, since she was a teen. Her podcast features people who live with various chronic illnesses, their loved ones, caregivers, experts and more. It touches […]

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A Car Accident & A Song Gone Silent (How Life Lessons from Chronic Illness Tide Me Through) | A Chronic Voice

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Silence. Who knew silence could be so overwhelming? More suffocating than the humid tropic air, and not in the least bit golden. The rest of the flock is older and more placid, having laid their eggs, and had their mates. They even seem a tad jaded, or it might have been that Horace had stolen […]

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Book Recommendations for the Chronically Ill: Part III | A Chronic Voice

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Book Recommendations for the Chronically Ill, but Good Reads for Anyone! I am finally getting around to the third installment of book recommendations, specially dedicated to my fellow chronic illness friends! Not all of these books are solely about health and illness; we need a break from these topics sometimes, don’t we?! But they are […]

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Asking for Help (and Why Everyone Needs to Learn this Important Life Skill) | A Chronic Voice | Featured Image

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Ancient Communities vs Modern Independence Independence is a much revered trait in the modern human being. But total independence is a bunch of bullshit. To be completely independent is to live in a bubble in which you’d die within minutes. To be alive is to be dependent; every living being breathes, and that requires synthesis. […]

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What it Feels Like to be Refused Treatment by a Hospital’s A&E / ER

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When Acute Pain Strikes, and You Know What It Entails A sharp pain struck the left side of my abdomen whilst I was asleep, and I just knew. I hurried to pop a pain pill, in hopes that the ache would subside. Sometimes that’s a small, albeit hacky, hint that it’s ‘just’ one of those […]

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A String of Bad Days (and What Happened When That Good Day Finally Came Along) | A Chronic Voice

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A Mixed Psychological State I’ve been in states of depression again of late. I’ve been through this cycle enough times to know that my brain chemistry is messed up again, although I have cause to believe that my epilepsy has a hand in them as well. I feel somewhat hypomanic at the same time, but […]

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