Afflicted on Netflix - 10 aug 2018

I’ve only seen the first episode, but I find people’s reactions to this very interesting.

As a person who has struggled with chronic illness, I think the first episode nailed it. Here’s why:

  • When I got sick, there was this desperate need to have a diagnosis. I didn’t understand science very well, so I very naively thought that if my symptoms were real, then there must be a diagnosis and a treatment. I’ve seen other ppl act the same way. It took me years to let go of that.

  • The anxiety from searching for a diagnosis can definitely create or exacerbate mental problems. With Carmen, Jamison, and Bekah, it’s not only physical or only mental.

  • Even if it were only mental, their suffering wouldn’t be any less real. Whether they are suffering less but overreporting to get some sort of response or if they genuinely think they are suffering to the extent they think they are, they need help of some kind.

I don’t think Netflix conveyed any of this well to people who didn’t already know it. It is INSANE how destructive the drive for a diagnosis can be. People get crazy desperate.

In my case, I am very very lucky to have a doctor who doesn’t give in to this bullshit. He has type 1 diabetes and tells me listen, science doesn’t know what’s wrong with you, but you might have the chance to be a healthy old person like me. When I tell that sorry, people think he’s a dick, but it’s what I needed to hear. I’m going through a hard time physically right now, but I’m not mentally in a bad place like I used to be.

It looks like all of these ppl are suffering, and faking symptoms and desperately clinging to whack diagnoses are just more symptoms piled on to the physical ones.

/r/TrueChronicIllness Thread Link - reddit.com