This meme ganked from arahitogami.
1. The illnesses I live with are:
Anxiety disorder, depressive episodes.
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year:
2001.
3. But I had symptoms since:
Er, at least since the age of 7 or 8.
4. The biggest adjustment(s) I’ve had to make is/are:
Changing my concept of myself to fit the fact that I have a condition that must be managed.
5. Most people assume:
That I don’t have these conditions.
6. The hardest part about mornings is:
??
7. My favorite medical TV show is:
House MD. "THE PATIENT POOPS A LUNG."
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is:
My laptop computer! Wait…I don’t think that’s what this question is about.
9. The hardest part about nights is:
Finding enough quiet to sleep. Also getting to a comfortable temperature. How is this relevant?
10. Each day I take [?] pills & vitamins.
Sertraline, budeprion, aripiprazole, women’s multivitamin, fish oil capsule, oyster shell calcium.
11. Regarding alternative treatments, I:
Eschew them because they are unregulated and who knows how they might interact with my regimen, which I worked several years to effectively construct?
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness and a visible one, I would choose:
That’s a choice? On what planet?
13. Regarding working and career:
For some of us, "mental health days" are actual, real sick days.
14. People would be surprised to know:
I’m still recovering from being depressed and anxious for a majority of my life.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality is:
I can’t go off the pills just because spring has come and I feel happier.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness was:
Live without isolation and a nagging sense of bleakness.
17. The commercials about my illness:
Are ridiculously melodramatic. See my favorite parody of the old animated Zoloft ads.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed:
Not taking 6 pills a day!
19. It was really hard to give up:
Not taking 6 pills a day!
20. A new hobby I’ve taken up since my diagnosis is:
Coincidentally enough, my answer is the same as Kinjou’s: 1:6 geekery.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again, I would:
But I feel normal NOW! It was only when I wasn’t in treatment that I felt abnormal, although I was so used to my abnormality that I assumed it was normal.
22. My illness has taught me:
That I cannot control all — in fact, most — aspects of my mind.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say (about my illness) that gets under my skin is:
"Sheer force of will can bootstrap you out of your slump!"
24. But I love it when people:
Understand how my conditions have shaped my life.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is:
"And this too shall pass away."
26. When someone is diagnosed I like to tell them:
"Get in treatment! I cannot recommend enough the services of a paid, disinterested professional [that’s a therapist] and also pills. These two may not work for you, but they have helped me."
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is:
It can really complicate personal relationships.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was:
Asked, "How can I help?" and then listened to me for a while.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because:
I’m not involved. I just did this meme because Kinjou did it.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel:
Incredibly nervous.
3 Comments
Nervous?
Forgive me for all these years thinking there was nothing wrong with you =P
Really interesting meme, and great, honest answers. 🙂 I think I’ll do this soon.
It both sucks a lot, but rocks so much when I learn that I have similar mental health issues as my friends!