Joanne Smith advises people with chronic pain to stop centering conversations around their symptoms. Instead, join clubs and classes, say yes to invitations, and share funny stories. When asked about your condition, gently redirect the conversation toward progress or the other person's life.
So even though it might feel like hard, I really encourage you to join groups, join a club, join a hula hoop if there is one near you, or a dance class, or a running group. Like, meet a friend, like, say yes to the invites, even if it's just a half an hour have a coffee with someone. Share your stories, talk funny stories with each other, have a laugh. And the best message of safety is don't talk about your symptoms. Don't talk about pain and symptoms. Talk about anything other than that. So don't make the conversation about that. It can be really hard when you've been there a lot of years. But yeah, like, if somebody does ask you a question about, oh, how are you getting on with your back, for example, you could be like, Oh, you know, you don't have to be like, don't ask me, don't mention it, you don't have to make a deal about it or anything, but you could be like, oh, I'm working on some stuff that's taking me in the right direction, and how are you?
