https://www.believemypain.com/
Years ago I posted a study on here that came to the “same” conclusion. Which is, when asked, black people believe they don’t receive equal pain management, despite no medical difference in diagnosis. The absurdity is unreal.
I think it may also be because, when you’re depressed, you tend to both focus on the negatives, and have less going on in your life, so focus on “the small stuff” like pain, aches, etc., more…
But in general, yeah, I would 100% back this up, from my own anecdotal experience, even based on my weirdly mixed life experiences in the last six months or so (really bad situation, then good, to kind of bad again)…
When I was in the “good” place, in general I felt much better, and coped better with my chronic illness, than I did either before or after that period. Unfortunately…
Which I guess just means I have to work harder to get back to “the good place”, like it sounds like you have done, too.
I mostly just lurk on this board, but I do see you post quite frequently. From what I have gathered of your life, the best advice I can offer is to pick a path and stick with it, regardless of the difficulties that crop up.
That's what I had to do to get out of the dark place I found myself in. I realised part of the reason I hadn't made any progress in life is because I felt overwhelmed by choice. I had a tiny bit of experience being an intern for an IT company, so I basically said 'Right, this is what I'm going to do come hell or high water, because it's definitely going to be better than wallowing in self-pity.' That gave me the motivation to pick myself up and go to university, and really take it seriously, not just to piss around as I would have done if I was 18.
Did I know if I would really enjoy working in IT? No, not really. It's scary making those kind of decisions because you cut yourself off from all the other possibilities of what you could do in life. At some point you have to take a leap of faith, though. In most cases you will find that success in one area tends to lead to success in other, unexpected areas of life.
Thanks, yeah. I'm trying to pick myself up again, and get back to doing Uni as soon as I can (if my Uni will even let me back in, lol), but yeah...
I guess I could have stuck out what I was doing in Sweden, but the cognitive dissonance of "This is fucking bullshit and I feel bad just being here, never mind the fact that I am actively losing money here, and am not allowed to work to earn more", in what was effectively a cult, made me decide not to stick it out. Though they did shame me for "being a quitter" when I left, lol...
But yeah. Unfortunately I keep getting very sick, so even when I pick myself up mentally, my body tends to... Not play along, or at least makes it extremely difficult. Which is just... My reality now, sadly.
However I'm trying. And I'll probably return to Sweden at some point. Just in... Different circumstances, I hope, lol.
Good advice, anyway!