I write about how important work is for people, particularly for people with chronic illness and most particularly for women with chronic illness. Do I know for sure if that’s true? I guess so (now how’s that for equivocal?) Okay, I believe so.
I haven’t done a research study, but I do have a random study, based on anecdotal stories and it seems to me that the people I speak with who aren’t working are more depressed, less motivated and less focused. An example. The other day, a client with quite disabling multiple sclerosis told me that the mornings that she doesn’t get up to go into her office, she’s depressed, at loose ends, and has trouble getting out of bed. And that’s not true on the mornings she has meetings at work. Just one story. But, it’s always been true for me, as well. And, it’s not as true in those periods when my symptoms have receded and are in the background. I’m sure that there are people who don’t work who have chronic illness and are happier than when they did work — or are just plain happy regardless. But, I think that’s a minority. I think that most of us need a place to BE, a place or people who care that we show up, a place where we can distract ourselves from our selves and our bodies and a place where we can still feel normal, or as close to that as we can get. And, that’s called work.
Rosalind
Diana Brice says
I agree with you wholeheartedly. I think that working does indeed keep our minds off ourselves and gives us a reason for being. Also I think that inertia is what makes us feel worse when we stay home and dwell on our feelings but working creates its own energy. This is not to say, however, that we should ignore warnings that we are really too sick to go to work today. Living with a chronic illness is definitely a delicate balance of knowing when you’re really sick and knowing when you should press through the pain. Thank you Rosalind for providing a forum for those of us living and working with chronic illness. It’s good to know we’re not alone.
Tara says
I am chronically ill and I work from home. I could not go to a work place on a regular basis successfully. I am very driven and have struggled with that realization for years. Because it is so critical to have an identity other than that of being ill. I am grateful for my part-time job that allows me to work from home, on the days I am able. I have other hobbies, but without work I don’t seem to participate in them with the same self-respect I do while holding a job. I do believe that work is not for everyone that is chronically ill, but I do believe that an identity away from the illness is necessary. It allows for an entire universe of possiblity and experience that I can share with others. I think it means just as much to my support team to hear me talk about my life outside of my illness as it does to them to hear about my illness. It lifts the depression off of everyone involved in my life and my care.