5 Myths about Chronic Illnesses
By Anne Gvozdjak
Chronic illnesses only affect the elderly population.
In 2018, it was measured that over 50% of adults in the US had at least one of ten selected diagnosed chronic illnesses. Furthermore, although the prevalence of illnesses increases with increasing age among adults, children and adolescents are also affected by chronic illnesses; over 10 million children in the US have some form of chronic illness. Mental health conditions including depression, bipolar disorder, and anxiety, are also prevalent in youth: 50% of all mental health illnesses have begun by age 14.
Chronic illnesses are caused by individual lifestyle choices, and these choices are to be blamed for the illnesses’ development.
Chronic illnesses are caused by a myriad of factors, and many of them have nothing to do with an individual’s lifestyle choices. While some behaviors such as extensive tobacco use or poor nutrition may ultimately contribute to the onset of a chronic illness, most chronic illnesses are directly affected by either one’s genetics or their environment, in which governments and policies play a crucially influential role.
Because chronic illnesses can’t all be “cured,” their existence and progression are a complete medical mystery.
Because of their prevalence and severity, chronic illnesses have been and continue to be the subject of a lot of medical research: in the last year alone, over 50,000 papers on chronic illnesses have been published in the National Center of Biotechnology Information. As a result, while illnesses such as Type II Diabetes cannot be cured, and there is still much to be researched, papers such as these have paved the way to better understanding.
Chronic illnesses’ symptoms can be reduced by resting for long periods of time and doing little to nothing.
Symptoms of chronic illnesses are unpredictable and prone to periodic flares. While resting may potentially reduce the overall severity of a flare-up, its results are highly variable and cannot be relied upon, as simply reducing physical and mental stress does not guarantee that a body is prepared to fight off chronic illness. Expecting individuals with chronic illnesses to be perfectly well after several days of resting may only increase their guilt if it turns out not to be the case.
Chronic illnesses always manifest their symptoms visibly and physically.
Many chronic illnesses, including lupus and fibromyalgia (FM), exhibit symptoms that are generally known as “invisible” symptoms: this category of symptoms ranges from “debilitating joint and muscle pain, fatigue, [and] migraines” to mental health conditions such as depression and anxiety. Just because an individual “looks” to be fine does not mean that they are not also experiencing pain.