How to Survive the Holidays When Chronic Illness and Disability Cause Pain

When It Feels Like You Need to Survive the Holidays Many people love the holidays and Christmas season, including those with chronic illness and disability. All the warm, fuzzy feelings and gatherings with loved ones can bring real cheer. Yet many of us feel like we need to survive the holidays, too. The holidays bring […]

33 Things That Stop People with Chronic Illness From Leaving the House (Sans COVID-19) | A Chronic Voice

Lockdown for COVID-19 & for People with Chronic Illness The lockdown laws for the COVID-19 pandemic vary for different countries and states, but people with chronic illness live a life in lockdown of sorts on a daily basis. Parts of Europe are set to go back into full lockdown again at the time of publishing […]

Triggers Trigger Triggers (Re-Stabilisation Procedure Encore) | A Chronic Voice

Trying to Stabilise Anxiety & Depression I’ve been feeling out of sorts of late, that’s for sure. My emotions are chaotic and all over the place, as I’m seized by anxiety and depression simultaneously. I had backslid to my suicidal ideation state, so I knew I had to call my psychiatrist asap. My antidepressant dosages […]

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

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, […]

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

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 […]

Best & Worst Part About Being Stuck at Home (From 32 People with Chronic Illness & Disability) | A Chronic Voice

In the first part of this series, people with chronic illness and disability shared their best tips for coping with isolation whilst stuck at home, often from pain or fatigue. With the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown, many healthy people have found themselves in similar situations. Perhaps with less pain and fatigue, yet the mental […]

29 Best Tips on How to Cope with Isolation at Home (from People Who Have Done and Will Do This All Their Lives) | A Chronic Voice

People with chronic illnesses and/or disabilities are no strangers to being stuck at home in isolation. Many are unable to work full-time, or only have enough energy to go out for essentials tasks such as grocery shopping and doctor appointments. And even these activities require pacing and planning, to ensure that there is minimal post-exertion […]

To Live with Chronic Illness is to Learn to Live with Maybes | A Chronic Voice

Foreseeing As this COVID-19 pandemic carries on, there is no foreseeable date as to when all this will end, if at all. I have a feeling it (and many other coronaviruses – there are over 500) will become more commonplace in the future, and vaccines will be developed to target them like the flu. Evolution […]

Why Painkillers are One of My Biggest Allies for a Decent Quality of Life | A Chronic Voice

The Many Negative Associations with Painkillers Painkillers – hero, villain, friend and foe in one. What’s your opinion about them? Have you been told: Don’t take them, they’re bad for your liver and body. You’ll become reliant, dependent, or addicted to them. A good-for-nothing, pathetic junky. You’ll need more and more of them to kill […]