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Chronic Illness Quotes

Browse 156 quotes about Chronic Illness.

Chronic Illness Quotes

“ME’ as a medical entity was later supplanted in the 1980s by psychiatrists such as Simon Wessely, replaced by the label ‘chronic fatigue syndrome’; a fatiguing syndrome of unknown origin that exists, in part, as a result of dysfunctional illness beliefs, as well as social trends and social care systems that reward illness seeking behaviours.”

DiscriminationChronic IllnessCfsChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisMe CfsMe Cfs QuotesPsychologizationSimon WesselyWessely School
Author:Charlotte Blease
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“Studies also show that doctors may view ME/CFS patients as hostile or combative when they challenge the incumbent biopsychosocial model of ME or CFS. Yet rather than feeling threatened or worse still, viewing the patient as uncooperative, there is an opportunity to discuss the limitations of medical knowledge. Here, we believe there is an ethical duty for candour and honesty: indeed, where there are clear gaps in medical knowledge the patient voice should have even more standing.”

Chronic IllnessCfsChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisMe CfsMe Cfs QuotesPsychologization
Author:Charlotte Blease
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“When it comes to hierarchies of illness, evidence shows that chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)/myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), features at the bottommost end of the medical “favoured” list. In the 1980s, newspapers helped coin the dismissive label “yuppie flu”; today, ME/CFS sufferers are still being referred to psychotherapists to work on their “faulty” illness beliefs.”

Chronic IllnessCfsChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisMe CfsMe Cfs QuotesPsychologization
Author:Charlotte Blease
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“I am a person suffering from chronic fatigue syndrome and I am appalled that it has been given such a trivial name. Here is a disease that totally disables most of its victims; a disease that causes balance disorders, resulting in some of us requiring wheelchairs, cognitive disorders that leave us unable to perform formerly simple mental tasks, and immune disorders that lay us open to multiple infections and to autoimmune problems. And all the medical profession can come up with to define this syndrome to the general population is "fatigue!”

FatigueChronic IllnessChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisMe Cfs
Author:Jane Cuozzo
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“The incentives of our medical and food systems pressure patients to not ask questions. These incentives also lead to the biggest lie in healthcare. That the reasons we are getting sicker, fatter, more depressed, and more infertile are complicated. The reasons are not complicated. They all tie to good energy habits.”

DiseaseChronic IllnessHealth Care ReformFood IndustryHealth Care IssuesMetabolic Syndrome
Book:Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health
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“Endo doesn't just affect the pelvic region. The body's response to the inflammation it causes sensitizes the central nervous system, and if you don't know what's going on - as I didn't - this sensitization ***** with your head. If your head's not right, there's a good chance you're in distress. This is where endo crosses the line from a physical ailment to an emotional one too. -- from the forward, written by Bojana Novakovic”

NonfictionChronic IllnessChronic PainWomens HealthEndometriosis
Book:Beating Endo: How to Reclaim Your Life from Endometriosis
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“I was going to do some more work when I got home, but…” She sighs, rubbing her knuckles against her eyes. “I didn’t have enough juice.” “Ah,” I say. For her birthday this summer, I splurged and bought a small bushel of oranges, which we squeezed into glasses and pretended was the real, gourmet orange juice our father used to make. As we sat at the table, acting like the drink wasn’t sour and pulpy, we got to talking about how her illness had come to affect her life. She explained to me that her energy reserves were like that glass of yellow juice. Every action of daily life—getting out of bed, bathing, dressing, doing research—siphoned juice away. Once the glass was empty, no matter how much she had left she needed to do or how much she’d hoped to get done, her body needed to rest. To refill the glass. If she tried to push beyond that, it could knock her out for days. Even weeks.”

SpoonsChronic Illness
Book:A Forgery of Roses
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“It is no coincidence then that doctors and patients and the entire Lyme community report—anecdotally, of course, as there is still a frustrating scarcity of good data on anything Lyme-related—that women suffer the most from Lyme. They tend to advance into chronic and late-stage forms of the illness most because often it's checked for last, as doctors often treat them as psychiatric cases first. The nebulous symptoms plus the fracturing of articulacy and cognitive fog can cause any Lyme patient to simply appear mentally ill and mentally ill only. This is why we hear that young women—again, anecdotally—are dying of Lyme the fastest. This is also why we hear that chronic illness is a women's burden. Women simply aren't allowed to be physically sick until they are mentally sick, too, and then it is by some miracle or accident that the two can be separated for proper diagnosis. In the end, every Lyme patient has some psychiatric diagnosis, too, if anything because of the hell it takes getting to a diagnosis.”

WomenIllnessMental IllnessSicknessChronic IllnessWomen S HealthLyme DiseasePyschiatric
Book:Sick: A Memoir
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“It never occurred to me that somehow women did know about it. It just never occurred to me. Yes I am wearing sneakers too. You are in a suit, I am comfortable. So when she explained to me that this was the first event really of its kind, it floored me. So I called my daughter who is in her 30s now and I said “do you know what endometriosis is?” She said, “what? Have to pack the pack the busters.” I said “no man, you have never heard of it?” No she said. I do not know what it is, and it occurred to me that my 30-year-old daughter who I told about endometriosis and it didn’t stick. If she didn’t know, and she is one of the hippest people I know, and her daughter doesn’t know, she has 19-year-old and she is a 13-year-old. The boy, we don’t care much about if he knows about it so much. There is other stuff for him to learn. Like how to roll a condom, things like that. You know, and it occurred to me that if they didn’t know that there were hundreds of thousands girls out there that don’t know. It is not because their mothers don’t want to tell them, because it’s not religion, it’s pure ignorance. We don’t know, we don’t have the information, we have it now, and so now is why this very first gathering is happening. Now is why we’re all sitting here looking really fabulous as you are... [Whoopi Goldberg on endometriosis awareness from the 2009 Blossom Ball]”

FeminismHealthIllnessFeministHealthcareChronic IllnessInvisible IllnessEndometriosisEndoWomen S HealthcareGoldbergWhoopi Goldberg
Author:Whoopi Goldberg
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“We have a duty tonight. Everybody, and guys this for you as well because I know you know women. You have a duty tonight. You only have to tell one other person what you heard. Just tell them what you heard, or ask them have you ever heard of this? If the answer is no, share what you learn tonight. That’s all. You don’t have to do anything else. You just have to tell somebody else. You have to take whatever stigma people think that is there. You have to take it. It’s not male or female. It has nothing to do with that. It has to do with, here’s a disease you don’t know about and you need to know about it. It’s that simple. It’s not rocket science. [Whoopi Goldberg on endometriosis awareness from the 2009 Blossom Ball]”

AwarenessHealthIllnessHealthcareChronic IllnessInvisible IllnessEndometriosisEndoWomen S HealthcareGoldbergWhoopi Goldberg
Author:Whoopi Goldberg
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“We've got to do better, I thought. This story of injustice had continued on far too long. It's time for the misinformation and stigmatization surrounding ME/CFS to stop. Our leaders need to step up to the plate, acknowledge past mistakes, and fix them. All the evidence is there in black and white. More research funding to find a cure would prevent so much unnecessary suffering and save lives.”

ScienceResearchMedicalFatigueMeChronic IllnessCfsChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisStanford
Book:The Puzzle Solver: A Scientist's Desperate Quest to Cure the Illness that Stole His Son
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“My name is CRPS, or so they say But I actually go by; a few different names. I was once called causalgia, nearly 150 years ago And then I had a new name It was RSD, apparently so. I went by that name because the burn lived inside of me. Now I am called CRPS, because I have so much to say I struggle to be free. I don't have one symptom and this is where I change, I attack the home of where I live; with shooting/burning pains. Depression fills the mind of the body I belong, it starts to speak harsh to self, negativity growing strong. Then I start to annoy them; with the issues with sensitivity, You'd think the pain enough; but no, it wants to make you aware of its trembling disability. I silently make my move; but the screams are loud and clear, Because I enter your physical reality and you can't disappear. I confuse your thoughts; I contain apart of your memory, I cover your perspective, the fog makes it sometimes unbearable to see. I play with your temperature levels, I make you nervous all the time - I take away your independance and take away your pride. I stay with you by the day & I remind you by the night, I am an awful journey and you will struggle with this fight. Then there's a side to me; not many understand, I have the ability to heal and you can be my friend. Help yourself find the strength to fight me with all you have, because eventually I'll get tired of making you grow mad. It will take some time; remember I mainly live inside your brain, Curing me is hard work but I promise you, You can beat me if you feed love to my pain. Find the strength to carry on and feed the fears with light; hold on to the seat because, like I said, it's going to be a fight. But I hope to meet you, when your healthy and healed, & you will silenty say to me - I did this, I am cured is this real? That day could possibly come; closer than I want- After all I am a disease and im fighting for my spot. I won't deny from my medical angle, I am close to losing the " incurable " battle.”

SpiritualHopePowerfulCourageAwarenessStrengthDepressionPositivityNever Give UpHealerChronic IllnessPromChronic PainCrpsLight WorkerHeal YourselfComplex Regional Pain SyndromeFind A CureChronically FabulousCrps AwarenessCrps PoemCure CrpsInvisible Illness PowerfulRsd
Author:Nikki Rowe
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“A heated and often bitter debate persists over whether chronic fatigue syndrome (or myalgic encephalomyelitis (or the postviral fatigue syndrome) is physical or psychological. Although many doctors avoid controversy by stating the obvious—namely, that the mind-body split is artificial and all diseases have physical and mental components—what is really at issue is whether this illness is real or imaginary.”

Chronic IllnessChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisMe Cfs QuotesPost Viral Fatigue SyndromePostviral Fatigue SyndromePvfs
Author:Karen Prince
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“ME/CFS has a greater negative impact on functional status and well-being than other chronic diseases, e.g., cancer or lung diseases[8], and is associated with a drastic decrement in physical functioning[9]. In a comparison study[10] ME/CFS patients scored significantly lower than patients with hypertension, congestive heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, and multiple sclerosis (MS), on all of the eight Short Form Health Survey (SF-36)[11] subscales. As compared to patients with depression, ME/CFS patients scored significantly lower on all the scales, except for scales measuring mental health and role disability due to emotional problems, on which they scored significantly higher.”

Chronic IllnessCfsChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisM E CfsM EChronic FatigueNeurological Disorder
Author:Frank Twisk
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“Myalgic Encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a disabling condition characterized by severe unexplained fatigue and a mixed profile of symptoms such as sore throat, painful/swollen lymph nodes, muscle pain, joint pain, headaches, unrefreshing sleep, post-exertional malaise and cognitive difficulties (K. Fukuda et al., 1994).”

Chronic IllnessCfsChronic Fatigue SyndromeMyalgic EncephalomyelitisM E CfsM EChronic Fatigue
Author:Leonard A. Jason
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“Psychologisation describes the emphasis on psychological factors where there is little or no evidence to justify it (1). It's a process where relevant findings are ignored or downplayed in favour of data from incomplete examinations, flawed research or anecdotal reports. In a clinical context, differential diagnoses may be dismissed prematurely while psychological explanations are readily accepted. Psychologisation does not refer to situations where there is sound evidence that psychological factors play a significant role, or where all the arguments are discussed and the psychological explanations are deemed the most persuasive.”

Chronic IllnessChronic PainMisdiagnosisChronic Illness QuotesMedically Unexplained SymptomsPsychologisationSomatic SymptomsChronic Pain Quotes
Author:Ellen Goudsmit
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“Autoimmunity is internalized by patients as an opportunity for the ultimate self-management project. But in fact it is a manifestation of a flawed collective project. If it is an indictment of anything, it is an indictment not of our personhood but of our impulse to see social problems as being about our personhood, instead of a consequence of our collective shortcomings as co-citizens of this place and time.”

Chronic IllnessAutoimmune DiseaseAutoimmunitySocial Model Of Disability
Book:The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
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“There is no specific test for multiple sclerosis.  Its early symptoms - fatigue, loss of sensation, weakness and visual changes - are frequently misdiagnosed as psychoneurosis or an even more severe psychiatric disorder, such as hysteria, particularly in women. When doctors could find no organic cause for [Jacqueline Du Pré's] complaints, they prescribed a year's rest, and referred her to a psychiatrist... When she consulted a doctor in Australia about her tenacious fatigue and occasional double vision in her right eye, he dismissed her symptoms as "adolescent trauma" and suggested she take up a relaxing hobby.”

HysteriaChronic IllnessMisdiagnosisMultiple SclerosisPsychologisationSomatic SymptomsJacqueline Du PréPsychoneurosis
Book:Jacqueline du Pré: A Life
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“Patients are being crushed by the devil’s bargain. Between the 6 trillion dollar food industry which wants to make food cheap and addictive and the 4 trillion dollar health care industry which profits off interventions on sick patients and stays silent about the reasons they are getting sick.”

DiseaseChronic IllnessHealth Care ReformFood IndustryHealth Care Issues
Book:Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health
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“Your doctor, and the entire system they work within, directly and unequivocably benefits from your continued suffering, symptoms, and sickness. Your doctor also likely doesn’t understand the role they play in this medical billing industrial complex. Or the economic and political puppet strings controlling their educational curriculum, the research literature around nutrition, and their decision-making.”

DiseaseChronic IllnessHealth Care ReformFood IndustryHealth Care Issues
Book:Good Energy: The Surprising Connection Between Metabolism and Limitless Health
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“It's not easy to diagnose because depending where the endometrial deposits are, the symptoms can be quite different. It's an unrecognized problem among teenage girls, and it's something that every young woman who has painful menstruation should be aware of ... it's a condition that is curable if it's caught early. If not, if it's allowed to run on, it can cause infertility, and it can really mess up your life. [Author Hilary Mantel on being asked about being a writer with endometriosis, Nov 2012 NPR interview]”

FeminismFeministSexismHealthcareChronic IllnessChronic PainEndometriosisWomen S HealthcareMantelHilary Mantel
Author:Hilary Mantel
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“I had fought for this moment. I had fought for my life, what health I had, the ability to live my life, and the ability to love. And he was worth every moment I had fought so hard for. I never could have imagined what I was truly fighting so desperately for. But there he sat.”

FighterChronic IllnessIllness And HopeAutoimmune DiseaseIllness QuotesChronic Illness QuotesChronic DiseaseAutoimmuneFighter Romance
Book:The Paris Soulmate
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“Astray from a deep sleep chronic as I write by phonics, like insomnia I will always live the onyx night for revealing, and, upon it, still I'll steal the bright light of day right away just to keep building at speeds hypersonic.”

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Book:Healology
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“The food you eat is among the most significant factors affecting your genes and pushing them toward cancer by causing mutation or disruption in their function. That is, what you eat can either prevent cancer and other chronic illnesses or help cause them.”

HelpingCausesFunctionCancerIllnessSignificantFactorsPushingGenesDisruptionChronic IllnessMutation
Book:Food As Medicine: How to Use Diet, Vitamins, Juices, and Herbs for a Healthier, Happier, and Longer Life
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“Let us be today's Christians. Let us not take fright at the boldness of today's church. With Christ's light let us illuminate even the most hideous caverns of the human person: torture, jail, plunder, want, chronic illness. The oppressed must be saved, not with a revolutionary salvation, in mere human fashion, but with the holy revolution of the Son of Man, who dies on the cross to cleanse God's image, which is soiled in today's humanity, a humanity so enslaved, so selfish, so sinful.”

MenWantHumansPersonsLightInspirationTodayChristianHumanityDiesChristChurchFashionSonRevolutionHolyCrossesSalvationMereIllnessSelfishSavedRevolutionaryTortureJailOppressedBoldnessHideousFrightPlunderChronic IllnessCaverns
Author:Oscar Romero
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“No one in our society needs to be told that exercise is good for us. Whether you are overweight or have a chronic illness or are a slim couch potato, you've probably heard or read this dictum countless times throughout your life. But has anyone told you-indeed, guaranteed you-that regular physical activity will make you happier? I swear by it.”

NeedsEnergyHeardExerciseActivityIllnessOur SocietySwearPotatoesCouchesOverweightSlimChronic IllnessPhysical Activity
Author:Sonja Lyubomirsky
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