Don't Judge Me for My Good Days: Psoriatic-arthritis.com

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  (This was posted Feb 16, 2024 - but I thought it was such a great topic that I wanted to repost it.) Please don't judge me based on my good days. Looks can be deceiving for someone with a chronic illness. What looks like a good day might actually be a good day. Or it might be a good few hours. Or it could be someone doing their best to function through the pain. You don't honestly know what someone is going through, especially when they have lived with the pain for a long time. You'd be surprised how much pain people can learn to smile through. Read the full article at psoriatic-arthritis.com
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Yes, I have already posted about touch before but this is quite different. Yesterday evening I was at a party and I was dancing with some friends when someone pulled out a camera. Not wanting to be in the picture, my friends began hiding behind each other or pushing one another into the lense. I don't know how I got involved but they started touching my back, trying to shove me into the lense. I snapped at them not to touch my back as it really did hurt. But they didn't stop even when I tried to get away from the group. Finally someone did it: the one touch that hurt so badly, I stormed off and sat with my head cradled in my hands with my back arched. My mum knew I was in pain and tried to calm me down, and the mother of my best friend (my friend has arthritis) looked as if she was ready to kill (not literally) my friends.

Honestly, it wasn't all my friends and they didn't mean to hurt me but I have told them many a time to never, ever poke my back, grab my shoulder forcefully or pat/slap my back. It's not much of a request: some people don't like to be touched in general and that is respected. Some people don't like you to use a certain word in front of them, and mostly it is understood. I don't understand how a request from someone with a disability not to be forceful in touch is too hard to follow. I wish the world could understand.

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