My thoughts about the docuseries Afflicted
I was watching the docuseries Afflicted on Netflix and something felt wrong. Afflicted features patients with chronic illness. I couldn't imagine that the characters agreed to be portrayed the way they were. You just don't let the camera film you while being bedridden and bathed when you know they insinuate that your physical illness is a mental one. It's extremely unprofessional to use quotes from doctors taken out of context, making it look like it's about the participants while they are not their doctor or have given them treatment.
As someone who has multiple mental illnesses it felt wrong on more than one level. You can have trauma, conversion disorder and still have lyme disease and have chronic fatigue. The participants should not having to proof they don´t have a mental illness to have their physical symptoms to be taken seriously. Both can co-exist and it's time to acknowledge that. I find it offensive to think that once you have trauma or a dissociative disorder your symptoms automatically become psychosomatic.
Do you know how hard it was for me to get treatment for my migraines? I suffered for years because I thought my over sensitivity for sound and light was all in my head. When I finally went to a doctor because the pain was to much and I kept puking I was diagnosed with migraines. The solution that relieved the head decks temporarily was a pill. All that time I thought it was me and that I just created a bad reality. I grew up with the notion that mind and body are connected. Thoughts become reality. Whatever you put your attention on will grow. The world is open. The sky is not the limit. With time I know better.
I learned that dreams are nice but that with time reality kicks in. My basic needs like food and housing are important. My health is not a result of what I am thinking but can be influenced by genes or environment.
I felt compassion for the participants. It hit me because I am very well known with being housebound. The truth is that in my case anxiety keeps me in the house. It's extremely hard for me to leave the house because I am worried my cat makes to much noise. Which she doesn´t because I checked with all my neighbors but it's an unrealistic thought that is hard to erase. I have to endure the fear and break through it. Doing things despite thinking it while knowing it's not real but feeling like the world collapses when I leave the house. I take 5 pills everyday for my depression, bipolar episodes, anxiety and for sleep. That doesn't make a broken arm psychosomatic.
Watching Afflicted made me realize that while I am not bedridden due to a physical illness, I am housebound due to anxiety and unrealistic thoughts that haunt me. Yes I have migraines and hyper mobility in my muscles and I am sensitive for sensory input. Yes, it makes me disabled from time to time but it's not all the time so in no way my situation can be compared to those featured in the docuseries.
I am happy I googled more information about Afflicted. I saw that my suspicions were right and many participants were not happy with how they were portrayed. Story lines were created, scenes cut and pasted not in chronological order creating false narratives.
It's my hope that people will realize that even with mental disorders our physical health deserves attention and need being taken seriously.