I love this. You articulate here something I’ve always felt but couldn’t quite put words to: that “reduce your stress” feels accusatory and is so rooted in the unhealthy individualism that is necessary to perpetuate the systems of oppression that lead to chronic illness in the first place.
OH my gosh I have so many feelings about this. My pain situation was never as much as what you have, but still, it took many many body work professionals before I got my sciatica source correctly diagnosed as something like dysfunctional pelvic joint (I am six years out and have blocked the correct name I think). And yes, even for that I heard I should reduce my stress. As if that was the *whole* problem. Which of course hearing all the time makes one more stressed.
Also, have you read "All's Well" by Mona Awad? I am just now finishing the audiobook. Its description of chronic musculoskeletal pain and the crazymaking of the doctors and physical therapist merry-go-round is spot on, including all the stuff about wanting to be a "good" patient. There's also Shakespeare, three Weird Bretheren, and a whole lot of other surrealist elements, but my daughter recommended it to me because of the pain descriptions.
Sonya, this is so good. I can't think of a better spokesperson, spokeswriter, really, than you, to thry and make the medical field pay attention. Thank you.
Thank you for sharing this beautifully-written and important piece!! I’m so glad you had this opportunity and hope your message reaches doctors and researchers far and wide.
You are incredible. Thank you for speaking and sharing. This, in particular, I'll be thinking about for a long time. "We ask you to think about social history in terms of the world we are holding on our shoulders, through multiple generations of trauma, and to see this social history not as a risk factor but as a fundamental engine of the diagnoses that are shredding our bodies." <3
Thank you for representing us so beautifully, Sonya. I recently had my own epiphany about my ten-year run up to long COVID, and how incredibly stressful those years were (but I just thought they were “normal”). The pressures on modern day people are certainly not Sabre-toothed tigers, but they don’t let up. Even tigers didn’t appear every single day back in prehistoric times. Stress was meant to be fleeting, not daily.
Thank you for sharing this with us, and the thought process you went through before you wrote it, and for the photo of the Adirondacks. I'm sorry you have to be living so many of these complexities. Thanks for giving a human face to those complexities to so many medical providers--it matters, and it helps.
I love this. You articulate here something I’ve always felt but couldn’t quite put words to: that “reduce your stress” feels accusatory and is so rooted in the unhealthy individualism that is necessary to perpetuate the systems of oppression that lead to chronic illness in the first place.
Thank you so much, Lisa! xoxox
OH my gosh I have so many feelings about this. My pain situation was never as much as what you have, but still, it took many many body work professionals before I got my sciatica source correctly diagnosed as something like dysfunctional pelvic joint (I am six years out and have blocked the correct name I think). And yes, even for that I heard I should reduce my stress. As if that was the *whole* problem. Which of course hearing all the time makes one more stressed.
Also, have you read "All's Well" by Mona Awad? I am just now finishing the audiobook. Its description of chronic musculoskeletal pain and the crazymaking of the doctors and physical therapist merry-go-round is spot on, including all the stuff about wanting to be a "good" patient. There's also Shakespeare, three Weird Bretheren, and a whole lot of other surrealist elements, but my daughter recommended it to me because of the pain descriptions.
Oooh thank you for the recommendation! And right?!?! Why would you hear "reduce stress" for a pelvic joint?
I love that you did this, Sonya! It's so important for practitioners to see and hear these messages. It will change things. It must.
Thank you, Kate!!
Sonya, this is so good. I can't think of a better spokesperson, spokeswriter, really, than you, to thry and make the medical field pay attention. Thank you.
Thank you so much, Stephanie!
Thank you for sharing this beautifully-written and important piece!! I’m so glad you had this opportunity and hope your message reaches doctors and researchers far and wide.
thank you, Caroline!! xoxox
You are incredible. Thank you for speaking and sharing. This, in particular, I'll be thinking about for a long time. "We ask you to think about social history in terms of the world we are holding on our shoulders, through multiple generations of trauma, and to see this social history not as a risk factor but as a fundamental engine of the diagnoses that are shredding our bodies." <3
Thank you for representing us so beautifully, Sonya. I recently had my own epiphany about my ten-year run up to long COVID, and how incredibly stressful those years were (but I just thought they were “normal”). The pressures on modern day people are certainly not Sabre-toothed tigers, but they don’t let up. Even tigers didn’t appear every single day back in prehistoric times. Stress was meant to be fleeting, not daily.
Thank you so much, Amy--and I LOVE the Tonic! Thank you for your work!
🫶🏻
Thank you for sharing this with us, and the thought process you went through before you wrote it, and for the photo of the Adirondacks. I'm sorry you have to be living so many of these complexities. Thanks for giving a human face to those complexities to so many medical providers--it matters, and it helps.