Pretending to be well

I think most people probably pretend to be sick...ya know...to get out of work, school, dates, whatever. But have you ever pretended to be well? Or pretended to not be as sick as you really are? What about hiding symptoms from the doctor because you can tell that your chart is getting thicker and thicker, and one person couldn't possibly have that many things wrong with them.

I had never thought about this until I was talking to a lady at work who is chronically ill, and she asked if I had ever not told a doctor everything because I didn't want to come off as being a hypochondriac. And my answer was, "all the time."

Now, here was someone with a diagnosis and who was being treated but even she felt the same things I did...you don't want to be labelled as the crazy person that has everything wrong.

Why don't some people feel comfortable saying what's wrong? Is it because we have been dismissed so many times by medical professionals, family, friends, and coworkers? Or maybe we don't want people to believe we're attention-seeking (which isn't necessarily a bad thing, especially when dealing with doctors...they are supposed to give us their attention...that's the reason we go to them)?

I know, for me, it's really hard for me to admit that I'm not having a good day. It's not because of pride, it's because I don't want people to treat me differently. I don't want to hear how I'm too young to be sick, tired, in pain, etc. I don't want any home remedies, no suggestions that I'm eating too fast or need to take a zantac. I don't want you to tell me that it's probably nothing because that's honestly not very reassuring.

But when you ask me how I'm doing today, expect a "good" because I would rather you think I'm being rude and flakey than being a fake.

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9