To think we are becoming a country of hypochondriacs?

How about ADHD? I know so many adults who claim to have it I've lost count. And being on the spectrum is used a lot.

That would have to be diagnosed by a doctor, not someone on MN.

I'm still waiting for the poster to tell us all how everyone with Me, fibromyalgia and pots are the same?

This. i work part time and can only do so because of how understanding nd flexible my manager is if he was like the op and some other posters on here I wouldn't be able to work at all

No. She said "Most people with..."

Diagnosed chronic pain and fatigue conditions are nothing like having everyday aches and pains. They can completely change your life in terms of what you can do.

Many people do continue to work. But experience discrimination, belittling and bullying. They spend their evenings and weekends trying to recover so that they can continue working.

If they get a cold or a virus, it affects them much worse. For example I have been hospitalised for days with breathing difficulties. Just because I have a chronic pain condition and my body can’t cope with a virus on top.

It affects your sleep. I rarely sleep more than 4 hours a night. But have to be up at 7 for work. Which means I can be impaired with cognition and physically exhausted.

The clue is in the word “chronic”. In my case I have constant burning pain in most of the muscles in my body. No painkillers touch it. It affects every aspect of my life, 24 hours a day.

It is nothing to do with lifestyle in my case. But I have had some suggest you can cure yourself by going for a run.

If more people educated themselves, the world would be a better place. I work full-time but only manage it because I have a manager who offers support when I need it. It would be impossible with an ignorant manager.

Migraines - can be debilitating. I can have mild ones where I get the flashing aura for 20 mins followed by either a little bit of a headache or a throbbing headache, nausea and sickness, to severe which start off like this, i get dizzy, a massive pressure, vivid colours and then I pass out. LED lighting also sets them off.

I have medication but it can be hit and miss as to whether it is going to work, I have the blue coating on my glasses.

I work full time and manage my life around them, normally get about 4 a month but I know when they are going to start.

I am waiting for a heart transplant and I agree with you.

Mental health has become a buzz word, nobody is a bit upset any more they’re “suffering from anxiety” We might as well bin off the term neurotypical and neurodiversity on the basis that because everyone claims to have autism/ADHD/some other ND we should just accept that everyone is unique in their own right.

My mum has a friend whose DD is constantly ill. The woman sits there and tells them how “I don’t know how much more she can take,” after she’s had her second cold that month. this in front of my mum whose DD (me) needs a transplant, and another friend whose daughter died last year.

FWIW I’ve only had one day off because of heart complications in the past three years, and I freely admit that WFH does reduce the fatigue I would probably experience if I had a commute.

I think that it’s fair enough to sight reasons why wfh works better for some, but many people are going further than that and checking out of life and responsibility altogether.

But actually you are agreeing with the lady in the article. The ability to work from home enables you to work more days a year. That’s what the article is about - working from home keeps work accessible to many with health conditions, and it’s not because they are lazy. Just like yourself.

If someone claims something, they should be able to back it up.

How is me asking for a source, for further research and discussion, shutting down a discussion? It's quite the opposite. What do you mean by "Under the guise of ableism"?

Why don't you want disabled people to speak?

Tough one for me. I do think there is a lack of resilience. I have epilepsy which probably impacts my mental health more than the physical side but I crack on. I worry about 'break dancing' with an audience more than anything. I've not had any time off work other than the odd day or so, in 20 years.

However, I'm currently off work with, what would appear on the face of it, to be a broken finger 🤣. I've had tonnes of complications, metal plates inserted, extreme pain, zombified with pain killers, 2 surgeries and an infection in my bone. Without going into dramatic, detail my colleagues just think I have a broken little finger and will probably be calling me fit to burn!

With this in mind, I don't want to downplay anyone's illness!

My migraines mimic strokes . I get aura , then my vision splits so everything looks double and up and down, flashes of lights, then I can't talk proparly and can't text either and have to sit in a dark room whilst feeling sick . Migraine ain't just headaches for some people .

Virtually all the people who make a big deal over having conditions like long-covid, ME, POTS, fibromyalgia & co have extremely similar mannerisms and appearances.

"Virtually all"? How many people with these conditions do you know?

What do you mean by similar appearance? You say that you think people with these conditions are nearly all undiagnosed ND, but what does that have to do with appearance?

I would love to see your research on this, please.

What mannerisms do all people with Pots, Fibro and ME have?

What is similar about their appearances?

How do they talk the same?

George Bernard Shaw once said that he never read a medical dictionary in case he died of a misprint. Wise words.

She’s right though. The OP talks about having sympathy for people with genuine issues yet makes light of a woman who suffers from chronic migraines and tries to compare them to the usual occasional headaches that most people now and again.

If she has sympathy for people with genuine issues then why is she singling out a woman with chronic migraines which are very real and debilitating?

Likewise people making light of people with anxiety. It’s very real and can be utterly debilitating. I’ve literally been unable to speak when it happens and walked in front of cars not knowing what I was doing because I was so overwhelmed.

Migraines aren't headaches.

I literally cannot see when I have a migraine so would be dangerous for me to travel to a job. I also vomit, occasionally faint. I've ended up being rushed to hospital because I thought I was having a stroke as my face went numb, another common symptom of migraines.

The only way I can get through one is lying down in a pitch black room in silence until it passes.

How would I be expected to get through a day in an office with that? I'm 'lucky' that I only experience migraines once every couple of months but some people have them regularly.

Chronic pain is also not just aches and pains. It can be unbearable and nonpain relief touches it. Again, my symptoms of chronic pain are no where near as bad as some people, but I would struggle to get to an office when I'm having a flare up.

Covid did a number on me. Before that I was fit and healthy and while I have always been self employed, I could have worked no problem out of the home. Now, I wouldn't be able to.

I am on the Board of a company so yes I guess you could say I'm a manager (slightly senior to Management but let's not split hairs 😉)

We are one of the most relaxed and easy going companies I have ever known. Nobody is expected to work outside of their set hours, we are very flexible on appointments / days off etc. We don't have "targets" or deadlines. It's a casual workplace, lots of benefits and everyone gets on.

But the people I am referring to already have these "conditions" when they come to work for us (as I said in my post, they have to complete a medical questionnaire when they start). So it's absolutely nothing to do with working here.

I would say most workplaces are far more chilled out and flexible now than they ever have been.

My - and many other peoples - grandparents who used to work in the coal mines and in factories for 12-14 hours a day with barely a break would be turning in their graves at the reasons that people being signed off for "stress" these days.

Where is your source that this isn't the case? Mumsnet isn't a forum where every post needs to be properly cited with peer referenced journals. If you disagree with what has been written then put forward evidence to disprove it.

Stop trying to shut down discussion under the guise of ableism.

I've read the OP. Do you realise what impact threads like these have on disabled people with chronic conditions? We're hated enough as it is, simply for existing, without these constant inflammatory posts that lead to even more hate. Disabled people are the most vulnerable people in society. Ask yourself why people hate them so much, instead of telling me to read something I've already read.

Thanks @GoldOrca . Actually I’m off work with a flare up, so not great. I can walk about 20m before I feel ill. Hope you’re ok.

One of the main problems is people insist on antibiotics for every little thing! I have one friend who takes her kids to the GP every time they have a sniffle. They are constantly on antibiotics for one thing or another. The problem is that antibiotics reduce your immunity and deprive your gut of good bacteria so it becomes a vicious cycle.

My exh and his mum are classic hypochondriacs.

I remember vividly when I had a complicated miscarriage which involved 3 hospital stays and surgery, my now ex mil texted my then dh saying that I "just had to get on with it". The first time I saw her after that she went on and on about how she had a cold and was most upset that the doctor wouldn't give her antibiotics.

My exh is also now at the GP for every little thing. When we were together I'd manage to steer him away from it but now it's constant. He went to the GP recently because his leg was bleeding and it turns out he knocked a skin tag

Meanwhile my colleague in her 60s is on the waiting list for a double heart bypass yet never moans about anything and somehow still manages to work full time.