I'm notoriously bad at looking after myself.
I feel crap: I'm OK.
I ache: it's not so bad.
I've been feeling rough for ages: It'll pass.
Upset tummy: I probably ate something I shouldn't have. Tough.
Just a headache.
Stop malingering.
Get on with it.
By the time I get myself seen, a simple problem has left lasting consequences like scarring.
I have chronic back trouble. I just power through (It'll pass) until I cannot move. When I finally get treatment I suddenly realise that it's not normal to have the constant level of background pain that I had been experiencing and thinking I was fine.
Last week I was feeling very grotty: upset stomach, headache, generally achy and miserable. "Oh well, I probably ate something I'm intolerant to. Just get on with it. Stop being a drama queen." And then I came out in a viral rash. Oh, I had been properly ill after all!
It happens time after time. Why do I put myself through this? Why can I not accept that I feel rough or am in pain? Why can I not believe it, but instead consider myself a malingerer or hypochondriac? Sure, there are people in more pain than me, with worse ill-health than me, but that doesn't mean my pain or ill health don't exist.
I need to stop thinking I'm a hypochondriac/drama queen/malingerer. But I don't know how.