This is a simple yet beautiful depiction of thousands of people’s daily lives. Everyone who does not understand the Spoon Theory or chronic illness (physical or mental) needs to see this kind of thing.
Some days I start my day in that half-drained yellow stage. Some days I start my day even lower.
[Image: A screenshot of a post that says FATIGUE SCALE
10. Can barely move. Can’t talk.
9. Can barely move. Can talk.
8. Can move, but can’t do much more than watch TV.
7. Can watch TV and play a game on my phone simultaneously.
6. Can do work on my computer lying in bed.
5. Can get around the house, but definitely couldn’t go out.
4. Can run a light errand.
3. Can get in my 10,000 steps for the day, making my fitbit happy.
2. Can do three or more activities in a single day.
1. GOING CLUBBING!
Blue text at the bottom credits the post to www.mistreated.org @MissKatieErnst
End image description.]
8 right now (2 earlier). Spent most of the past two years 3-4 on my good days and 11 on my bad days (11: completely immobile). Now I’m usually around a 2.
I use the pain scale for emotional pain, every day. I’m currently at a 4, touching up against a 5. That’s better than the 8 to 10 I’ve been experiencing for months, and I’m grateful for it.
There’s a hilarious and informative thread going around, probably best known as the “YEET THE CHILD FOR THEIR HEALTH” post.*
While it’s worth a read by its own right, we’d like to bring you one particularly spoonie-oriented reply from Paediatric Occupational Therapist
Zoe Gianduzzo:
As
adults, does your body ever feel jittering/jiggly/wiggly/like it needs
to move or calm down but you just can’t figure out why? That’s your
sensory system saying Hey! I need to feel differently in order to
function better!
Here’s what you can do:
Jump up and down (vestibular and proprioception)
Give yourself big squeezes (proprioception)
Place your hands on a wall and do push ups (proprioception)
Do cartwheels (vestibular and proprioception)
Get someone to give you the biggest bear hug for at least 10 seconds (proprioception and social connection, also proven to help regulate your sensory system into just right zone!)
Get a drink of water and drink it through a straw OR blow bubbles into the water (way more fun!) (oral motor input and respiration)
Have a shower or a bath (tactile)
Stretch and do exercise (vestibular and proprioception)
Eat something crunchy or chewy (like chips or gum) (oral motor input)
Listen to some music that suits your mood (auditory)
etc
etc etc! I’m sure you already have a strategy that your body has
figured out works for you. I personally like to chew gum when I feel
like i need to eat something but I’m not actually hungry and just need
that chewing sensation in my jaw.
Long story short,
everyone has a sensory system and we all use regulation strategies like
the ones listed above to help make our body feel better. So if you ever
see someone (especially kids!) fidgeting and having a hard time
focusing, maybe suggest something from the list above!
If you’re a leg bouncer, you’ve already found one solution—but now you know why you do it, and some other things that may help.
*If you missed the whole “yeet” thing: it’s a new slang term that means to throw or fling something. You can also yell it as you throw something or as a victory cry, but you might get some funny looks if you’re not a Gen Z-er.
We on this blog, of course, encourage you to use it to mortify your children and grandchildren 😈
Okay, ironically I have no spoons to do the image description rn, but I did this forever ago, and the chaos that is le hell site means that I don’t think you ever got to see the high quality scan of your and another user’s idea of a spoonie skeleton flag. Happy birthday Joy, and I’m wishing you many more trips around the sun, all of them happy as can be. ❤️
Oh and, obviously, it’s a pirate flag bc I am a dork.
I think what non-spoonies tend to forget is that chronically ill people do not just get ill more often than other people, but are ill all the time. When we miss school or cancel appointments, it is not because we ‘felt a bit peaky again’ and decided to not go – we feel bad most of the time, but still do things anyway. A lot of us feel ill, in pain etc. all the time, and we cancel plans/take time off when we physically or emotionally cannot cope with the day or the things required of us. Our ‘good’ or ‘okay’ is a healthy person’s ‘awful’. We are consistently making more effort than ‘normal people’ in order to live and make a living, and we often make that effort at the expense of our health. And it is so hurtful and offensive when people we know/ friends/ family/ teachers etc. get frustrated and annoyed because they think we are not trying hard enough. We are always trying. We are always fighting. Sometimes it’s too much.
