this post was submitted on 07 Dec 2024
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Chronic Illness

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A community/support group for chronically ill people. While anyone is welcome, our number one priority is keeping this a safe space for chronically ill people.

This is a support group, not a place for people to spout their opinions on disability.

Rules

  1. Be excellent to each other

  2. Absolutely no ableism. This includes harmful stereotypes: lazy/freeloaders etc

  3. No quackery. Does an up-to date major review in a big journal or a major government guideline come to the conclusion you’re claiming is fact? No? Then don’t claim it’s fact. This applies to potential treatments and disease mechanisms.

  4. No denialism or minimisation This applies challenges faced by chronically ill people.

  5. No psychosomatising psychosomatisation is a tool used by insurance companies and governments to blame physical illnesses on mental problems, and thereby saving money by not paying benefits. There is no concrete proof psychosomatic or functional disease exists with the vast majority of historical diagnoses turning out to be biomedical illnesses medicine has not discovered yet. Psychosomatics is rooted in misogyny, and consisted up until very recently of blaming women’s health complaints on “hysteria”.

Did your post/comment get removed? Before arguing with moderators consider that the goal of this community is to provide a safe space for people suffering from chronic illness. Moderation may be heavy handed at times. If you don’t like that, find or create another community that prioritises something else.

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[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 10 points 3 months ago (5 children)

What metaphor would you suggest instead? At least in my experience, the term is becoming understood more and more by the mainstream.

[–] cAUzapNEAGLb@lemmy.world 7 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Could've just said effort or energy and i would've understood the intent of this post, I am now clued into spoon theory now though

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Neither of those terms are quite interchangeable though. Everybody has low energy days, that's relatively normal. But the word spoons is a shorthand for explaining a precious, and much more finite resource, as a way to distinguish the experience for disabled people.

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 0 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But it's not a vital nor precious resource. It's just tangable and limited. I think that's the disconnect.

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

But it's not a vital nor precious resource.

I'm sorry, are you trying to argue that spoons aren't a vital, nor precious, resource for disabled people? Because I disagree vehemently. Please go and read Christine Miserandino's original post:

https://butyoudontlooksick.com/articles/written-by-christine/the-spoon-theory/

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I did, and the point was about general translation.

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

You know what, nevermind, I'm done wasting my spoons arguing this point with people in this thread.

[–] sartalon@feddit.nl 4 points 3 months ago

I never heard of it before and while I did not immediately fully understand it, I did understand and empathize with its point. I guess what I am saying is this is an anecdotal story that supports your argument.

[–] DogWater@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

A bucket full of a liquid. That bucket has a faucet over top of it that fills it at x rate constantly. For disabled people it fills more slowly than normal abled people so pouring energy out is more costly timewise and must be calculated carefully.

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 2 points 3 months ago

While I do like this metaphor, I think it's not useful as a shorthand. Once you explain spoons to people in your life, and they understand, it's a useful tool to catch their attention and help them realise that energy isn't an abundant resource for you.

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 3 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (2 children)

If the original tweet was for the general audience, just replace with "energy". That's it. The term is more understood in our bubble only. You are suffering from bias.

Jargon is usually used to make oneself feel "in", but it by design excludes everyone else from the conversation.

[–] flicker@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago (2 children)

I come from a mental health background and spoons is excellent for anyone. It needs explaining, sure, but neurodivergent people can use spoons to explain the cost of their executive dysfunction, people with depression can use spoons... hell, people free from illness can use this expression, too!

I get being bitter about jargon but it's an extremely versatile and easy-to-understand metaphor. I think the aim here should be to share it more, rather than try to label it as improper to include.

[–] jol@discuss.tchncs.de 2 points 3 months ago

Yes, if you have the chance to explain. If you can't, talking about spoons just confuses people.

[–] slackassassin@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I get that spoons are a tangable and limited resource, and that part provides for a better example. But the part that doesn't work well is that spoons have a specific value and use case. Like, you could still operate pretty normally without a spoon.

[–] princessnorah@lemmy.blahaj.zone 1 points 3 months ago

Go read the origin post I commented elsewhere in this thread. I think it helps explain why "energy" doesn't work as well.

[–] 0ops@lemm.ee 2 points 3 months ago

First I've heard of it