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Combating Invisibility: Part I

© Carol Wallace

If fibromyalgia is an invisible disease, why is it that almost everyone we know either has it or knows someone who does – even if many of them dismiss the whole idea of fibro as a lot of poppycock?

Some people simply don't believe it is a legitimate medical problem. Some may believe it – but not believe that you (or someone they know) really have it. Let’s look at some possible reasons for this sort of reaction.

The Latest Fad Disease

Fibromyalgia is not something new. It has been known about since the 19th century, although under different names, such as myolitis and fibrositis. As medical knowledge about this mysterious ailment increased, the names changed to reflect a better understanding of what the problem entailed. That increased understanding, and the change of name may have brought it to the attention of the media in recent years, but it never appears to have had much media attention until recently.

Periodically, the media seem to seize on certain physical maladies and write about them until they take on the aura of “this year’s medical problem,” partially because some of the symptoms of those maladies seem to affect a large part of the population.

Think about some of the common symptoms of fibro – aches, pains, and tiredness – and they seem to describe a lot of people we know. Some of them ache from arthritis; some from the simple fact that they are aging. Some may be suffering a lingering virus which will depart and leave them no worse off than before. And some may have these symptoms as the result of a bout of extra hard work or stress – and those symptoms will leave once they have rested up.

But many of these people read these articles have the unfortunate habit (well known to medical students) of reading these articles and mentally ticking off every symptom mentioned that they themselves have experienced.

This is a known problem in psychology and physical medicine as well – students go through their courses convinced (at least temporarily while they study) that they have all kinds of dreadful diseases – until they begin to study the next one. Lay people are no different. And so there are many people out there who say they have fibromyalgia – courtesy of their own diagnosis, reached by reading a list of symptoms in the newspaper.

These people – whether they have accurately diagnosed themselves or not, are partially responsible for the “fad” label. Anyone who questions them and learns that they have not

The copyright of the article Combating Invisibility: Part I in Fibromyalgia is owned by Cynthia Webber. Permission to republish Combating Invisibility: Part I in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.