(In honor of National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week (Sept 14-20) invisibleillness.com has composed the following questionnaire. If you have an invisible illness and/or disability and would like to help raise awareness, and you’ve ever been forwarded one of those “getting to know you” emails, then you know the drill. Copy and paste the following, replacing my answers with your own, and post the completed questionnaire to your blog or homepage. Then post the link to your page here.)
30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know
1. The illness I live with is: Bipolar Disorder II and Borderline Personality Disorder
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2006
3. But I had symptoms since: I was probably 13 or 14.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Being conscious about how much I need sleep. I used to be able to get by on 5 or 6 hours a night; now I need closer to 8 or 9. And that’s not always easy to do and still live a full life.
5. Most people assume: That I’m fine until I tell them otherwise. To the casual observer I appear to have my shit pretty well together. It’s once you break through my facade that you come to see the chaos that can be my life.
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Getting motivated to get out of bed. Particularly if I haven’t gotten enough sleep.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: I absolutely love House.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My cell phone. I’ve got a couple of good friends who text me on a pretty regular basis. It’s a lifeline for me.
9. The hardest part about nights are: Not being able to shut my mind down so I can sleep. And then stressing about the fact that I’m not sleeping – thus making it even harder to fall asleep.
10. Each day I take _8_ pills & vitamins. (No comments, please)
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: Would love to find something that would work; so far that’s not been the case.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: I think in some ways it’s easier to have an invisible illness because I can hide it (for the most part) when I want/need to. However, there are those people who have said this is all in my mind because they don’t know me well enough to have seen the very visible by-products of my illnesses.
13. Regarding working and career: I love my job and can’t imagine working anywhere else. I think it’s important for me to work and stay active during the day so that I don’t give my mind a chance to wander too much. I’d be lost without my job.
14. People would be surprised to know: How long I was actually sick before I finally got diagnosed. I’ve been struggling with this since I was a teenager.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: How I “managed” my life before I got sick and why I can’t just fall back on old habits. And being tied down to a med regime twice a day.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Teach again. I’m a technical trainer by trade and I didn’t know if I’d ever be able to get in front of a classroom again. But I have, and I still enjoy it as much as I always have. It’s a little more nerve-wracking now, but once I get started I’m fine.
17. The commercials about my illness: I’ve not seen many commercials about my illnesses. I think most of the commercials about mental health drugs are decent if a little too sugar coated.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: My hobbies.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: My hobbies. And my freedom. I often feel like a prisoner in my own mind.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Unfortunately I’ve lost most of my hobbies due to having the shakes from the lithium I take. All of my hobbies involved doing work with my hands and most days I just can’t manage that anymore. However, I did start working on a filet crochet doily the other day that doesn’t look too terrible just yet.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: Get a good sleep, do some intricate beadwork, not get angry about anything, drink a couple of margaritas, and just enjoy life for what it is.
22. My illness has taught me: Just how strong I am.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: When people use a mental diagnosis in a derogatory way. I had a boyfriend once who, in talking to his ex-wife, asked her if she was “bipolar or something” because she was acting “crazy.”
24. But I love it when people: Are shocked to find out just how much of a struggle I’m living with – because they never would have guessed it.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: I’m a big fan of the Serenity prayer.
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: That life can get better with the right treatment. But you’ve got to be willing to fight for that treatment sometimes. Never stop fighting for your own rights.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: How easy it is sometimes to forget that there’s anything wrong with me. I’ve had periods of time – 2 or 3 days in a row sometimes – where the only reminder of my illness is having to take pills morning and night. I cherish those times.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Treated me like a normal person. Being treated as someone “different” always makes me feel worse.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I feel it’s important to talk about invisible illnesses, thus making them more “visible” to the rest of the world.
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Special.
