Psoriatic Pain & Psoriatic Weakness

Over the course of human history, we have learned to view pain as a weakness. As in, we aren’t “strong” enough to overcome or push through the pain. We are weak if we lack the ability to adequately cope with our pain. Or worse, people think that we are faking it because the pain couldn’t possibly be as bad as we say that it is.

All of this, the disbelief, the pain itself, admitting to the pain, all add up to weakness in the eyes of others. And even ourselves at times.

Defining pain and explaining weakness

If we simply admit that we are in pain, then who we are as individuals get labeled as “weak.” As if being in pain tells people something about who we are and our character as human beings.

It says that we aren’t good enough or strong enough as everyone else. Admitting that you are in pain has become the equivalent of a character flaw. Like we aren’t strong enough to get over it, push through. Or, we become the dreaded “H” word- hypochondriac.

People don’t usually want to hear about our pain

At their worst, those without PsA don’t understand why we can’t just get over it. They don’t understand the toll it takes on our bodies and our minds.

Because we can’t simply get over it, our employers, coworkers, and sometimes even our own family members begin to view our pain as a barrier. We get labeled as “not a team player” or “unreliable.” Our perceived inability to just get over our pain makes us weak, and therefore not a valuable part of a team.

Overcoming weakness

Maybe it is that we are seen as weak because we don’t appear strong enough to push through the pain if we have to cancel plans.

Clearly, as a person, you are weak because you let the pain win. (Sigh) You can’t push through because of some weakness at your core. Why do we waste so much time (and energy) trying to push through our pain, only to be viewed a weak if we can’t?

The dreaded H-word

No matter how you look at it, being labeled (by anyone in your life) as a hypochondriac, is an obvious weakness. Regardless of the fact that it is unlikely to be true. The pain and fatigue compel us to find answers, and in doing so, we often become saddled with a plethora of negative comments and labels.

How many times have you had someone call you (if not to your face then you suspect behind your back) that dreaded H-word? With an invisible illness, but especially psoriatic arthritis, it is difficult to diagnose, which likely means many tests and trips to several different doctors, at the very least.

When it comes down to it, it begs a deeper, more difficult question to ask ourselves, and that is, what is so wrong about showing a little weakness? Aren’t we all, at some point in our lives, weak?  But I suppose that is a question for another day.