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Pain and Loss of Self Worth

Chronic Pain | Last Active: Dec 18, 2023 | Replies (142)

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@labgirl

The number and quality of responses to my original posting about pain and loss of self-worth have been amazing. Each one of them has offered positive ideas about how to move forward and I am already working on incorporating some of them.

I have to say, though, that I'm not inspired as you are by stories of 97 year olds with few medical limitations. I'm happy for them, but not all of us are in that situation (for many reasons). The commercials and ads showing seniors biking and hiking, etc, just make me sad, so I try to avoid them. If they inspire you and others, though, that's great. One solution doesn't fit all
Thanks for replying and offering suggestions.......every idea helps!

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Replies to "The number and quality of responses to my original posting about pain and loss of self-worth..."

I equate those kinds of unrealistic representations as outliers to the collective experiences of people - just like the way some media represent women physically; it’s just not realistic for the majority…
I also avoid these types of representations because they don’t seem to do anything besides try to convince a person they need to conform to an expectation, and many times, that is unattainable and that causes distress.
The only time it tends to impact on me is when I have interactions with people clearly older and much more functional than me who say ignorant things aligned with their expectations of someone my age while disregarding my situation (eg: “you’re young enough to be doing *insert said expectation here*, just put some effort in”) to which I then patiently reply with some gentle raising of awareness - I don’t want to overtly disrespect my elders - regarding appropriate interactions when discussing a persons disability with them.. ie: discrimination and selfishness directed at others are not acceptable, neither is judging and expecting a person to function just because you do.