One of the hardest things to convey to people (aside from the daily agony) is how isolating this life is. For an adult, it is bad enough, but most of us that are "chronic" started our suffering as children and teens. If there is little understanding for us, as adults, there is none at all for children and teenagers.
We all want to belong. As teens, it is especially hard. They're already struggling to find out who they are, learning to become independent, to make the transition between childhood and life as an adult. They're very influenced by their peers at this age - what others think or say about them can be lead to elation...or devastation... Children can be very cruel in their comments (a trait that's all too often learned from their parents). Now imagine that you are 16, and no one wants to bother with you because you are always sick with an illness no one can see...an illness that sometimes even your family doesn't understand. You can't participate because the added activity makes you want to throw up, makes your head pound, makes life impossible......as if it wasn't bad enough to have to give up your youth, you have to give up friendships, too... The teen years are difficult enough without adding in chronic migraines. Chronic migraines are debilitating enough without adding being a teen.
The world is a hard place. That lesson shouldn't have to be learned at such a young age. Please check out the blog of Caitlin, a high school teen, trying to deal with life while suffering from chronic migraine.
