A Disease Of Fibromyalgia
Fibromyalgia is an extremely painful and uncomfortable health condition, that has no foreseeable cure, as of right now. While there are some simple treatments to aide in the digression of the disease, these treatments are only temporary. The pain from fibromyalgia can do more than effect an individual’s body. Researchers have surmised that, “people with fibromyalgia may have a heightened sense of pain. The feeling caused by the condition is sometimes described as a constant muscle ache”. Chronic pain is a displeasure for the individuals that suffer from fibromyalgia. For some, the pain from fibromyalgia is a constant burden that aggravates both the body and the mind of the person with the condition. Because this pain appears to be perpetual, many patients with fibromyalgia believe that they cannot overcome their affliction. Medical professionals agree that “fibromyalgia is a painful, chronic disease that can make you feel sometimes like you might die. But in reality, can you die from fibromyalgia?”. Fibromyalgia is painful enough to convince a fibromyalgia patient that they are dying from their condition. However, fibromyalgia does not officially “claim” it victims, unless circumstances prove otherwise. By examining the real dangers of fibromyalgia and how the patients with fibromyalgia respond to the condition, it can be determined if whether or not an individual can pass away after contracting this disease.
Dangers of Fibromyalgia
Death is not a term commonly used with fibromyalgia because of its mortality rate. On the contrary, no individual has legitimately died from the pain of fibromyalgia. Still, researchers have discovered some dangerous findings as a result contracting fibromyalgia. Furthermore, research has proved that “although fibromyalgia can occur in anyone, it's more common in women. Between 75 and 90 percent of people with the disorder are women, according to the National Fibromyalgia & Chronic Pain Association”. Because women contract fibromyalgia more often than men, it has been difficult to create a functional treatment that can work for both genders. Another dangerous aspect about fibromyalgia would be how it is contracted. Basically, any individual can generate the disease, even if that individual is completely healthy. Unfortunately, “researchers don't know exactly what causes fibromyalgia, but many suspect that it occurs when the body's central nervous system doesn't process pain properly”. Because fibromyalgia is so mysterious, it can also be dangerous. Currently, fibromyalgia is not a condition that an individual can die from because of natural causes. Fibromyalgia is a hostile health condition because of the following reason. Because of the mysterious nature of this disease, fibromyalgia patients must remember that “the real danger from fibromyalgia is the fact that it is so often associated in sufferers with serious depression. The constant pain and fatigue, along with the sense that you aren’t getting support from friends or doctors, can make one feel like life isn’t worth living”. Fibromyalgia is not a disease that should be overlooked, yet it goes disregarded each day. Support is perhaps the best defense against the destructive patters of fibromyalgia. Without a solid support system, the victims of fibromyalgia may very well perish.
Why do patients feel as if they are going to die from fibromyalgia?
Distractions can cause issues for any individual, with or without a chronic pain condition such as fibromyalgia. However, fibromyalgia can function as much more than a distraction. In fact, fibromyalgia can have a large influence over how a person handles pain. Because of the pain radiated from fibromyalgia, “many people are unable to function at work or at home, and become frustrated because the condition is often misunderstood”. By causing great amounts of pain, an individual cannot focus on the issues important to them. For some, their livelihoods are put at risk because of this condition. Other individuals get distracted by the fact that they are not getting better, or their treatment does not function as expected. The pain from fibromyalgia also causes “others to complain about lasting memory and cognitive problems that interfere with their ability to concentrate. This is often known as "fibro fog”. When the mind is clouded up with negative thoughts, it becomes increasingly difficult for an individual to go about their day. The judgment of a fibromyalgia patient becomes impaired by the painful symptoms of their condition. In fact, “that’s part of why the rate of suicide among fibromyalgia sufferers is higher than among the average population. And while no one dies from their fibromyalgia directly, plenty of people with fibromyalgia have taken their own life”. Individuals with fibromyalgia have a difficult time trying to find assurance. They need support for dealing with their condition, but they are in too much pain to explain how they feel. In this case, the feeling of depression is painful and plentiful.
How to cope with depression from fibromyalgia
Depression can occur for several different reasons, depending on the person experiencing the emotion. One of these reasons would be the fact that some people believe that there is no way to escape their suffering. For fibromyalgia patients, the feeling of eternity is not an emotion that these patients are unfamiliar with. Sadly, “the truth is that while fibromyalgia isn’t curable, there are ways to better manage your pain. And new treatments and therapies are being invented every day. It’s entirely possible that you will one day find a treatment that works for your fibromyalgia”. Fibromyalgia patients often give up hope after only a few years. The pain radiates to nearly every part of the individuals body, causing a disruption for their standard daily functions. When a loved-on contracts fibromyalgia, they need more support now than they ever had before. This is because, “someone who is suicidal will be unlikely to seek help on their own. Many people with serious depression feel that there is no point”. When pain is constant, it is difficult for an individual to focus on the important aspects of life. Many fibromyalgia victims believe that their condition is never going to improve. Fibromyalgia progresses faster than the treatments used to combat the disease. Fed up with the agony of existing in constant pain, fibromyalgia patients crawl into a deep depression. In fact, “People with depression or chronic pain often feel like suicide will put an end to their pain, but the reality is that suicide doesn’t get rid of pain, it just gives it to the people who care about you”. Fibromyalgia can take much away from an individual. Fibromyalgia can fatigue the peace of its victim by causing painful flares in the body. However, fibromyalgia cannot take the lives away from its victims unless the individual with the condition chooses to give up.
It is important for people to “remember that fibromyalgia is a manageable disease. And that the real danger is a fibromyalgia sufferer taking their own life. So be vigilant and proactive about managing depression as you would any other fibromyalgia symptom”. Depression has a stealthy way of sneaking up on its victims, just as fibromyalgia does. When a chronic pain patient has both depression and fibromyalgia, they need to be looked after. Patients with fibromyalgia need to be reminded that “fibromyalgia is not itself life-threatening. That can be hard to believe given how bad it makes you feel. But the truth is that the symptoms of fibromyalgia, like muscle pain and fatigue, aren’t going to kill you”. The only thing about fibromyalgia that can kill a person would be depression. Depression forces the individual with fibromyalgia to believe that there is no way out, other than death. The fact is, fibromyalgia can only kill the individuals that do not believe that they can thrive.