The Benefits of Writing about PsA!

Originally, I thought writing would just help me cope and come to terms with having PsA. I was surprised when my husband starting reading some of my articles and started to really understand and empathize with what I am dealing with on a day to day basis. I'll give you an example.

One day I returned home from work and I had been battling fatigue for a couple of days. That particular day when I arrived home, I visibly looked exhausted.

My husband had read my recent article on mild PsA and fatigue and immediately recognized that I wasn't myself. He said "I'll put the kids to bed and clean up, you go to bed, I can see how tired you are". He knew from reading my article that I find the fatigue worse than the actual joint pain.

My medication takes care of most of the joint pain. The fatigue, though... nothing really helps overcome that. I don't have fatigue all the time, but when it hits, it is hard to continue to function without having to take lots of breaks.

Surprises!

The first article I wrote was about mild PsA and at that time, Psoriatic-Arthritis.com ran a poll to see how many considered their PsA to be mild, moderate, or severe. I was shocked about how many of us suffer from mild PsA.

It seems that most people who post on various social media websites have it quite severe. I rarely see people with mild PsA posting much. It occurred to me that maybe people with mild PsA don't feel they have much to complain about when so many others have it very severe.

It also occurred to me that I may not be as rare as I once thought. I asked my rheumatologist if I had a mild case of PsA, and she confirmed this. She also said most people she sees are much worse off then I am.

Still because I don't see many people who have mild PsA posting - it gives an illusion of this being a severe disease.

Understanding myself

Another benefit I found from writing is having a greater understanding of myself and the feelings that I have. Writing has given me a much needed outlet to cope with having this disease. 

It lets me put my feelings down on paper and release those thoughts. Sometimes it is easier for me to write about PsA then to actually talk about it. Writing is a constructive way to to get your feelings out and deal with them.