On Sickness

2024-01-08

I am currently sick, I have a small cough. But it feels like I have been sick for two months, between having a worse cough, the chills, a boat load of mucus, and a sore throat. My symptoms have gotten worse and better, right now they are pretty minor but a month ago I was taking a day off work and sleeping in bed. I hope the cough goes away and I feel 100% soon but being sick has given me a bunch to reflect on.

It is amazing how the body functions and how interconnected the brain is with the rest of the body, at least for me. When I have a headache, stomachache, or stub my toe and have a throbbing pain, my brain will function at a fraction of its normal efficiency. Perhaps others have higher constitution or are better at blocking out pain, but I am not and so if my brain is constantly dealing with pain I cannot perform well at my job, writing, or even fluid communication. When I am experiencing any of the above I basically stumble through life with the basic brain functions running, am I fed, can I make a basic meal, watch child to make sure he doesn’t hurt himself, or focus on sleeping. Physical tasks are a mixed bag when I am sick, something things (mostly mindless things), I can do with about the same rate, like chopping onions. Even with a nagging pain I think I could chop onions pretty well.

Also somewhat related, I had a small bought of depression a few weeks ago. It only lasted for a day and I am used to such episodes, they are not rare nor are they common. I think on average I have two or three per year and when they happen I just take it easy and try to relax and play video games. I have no idea what causes them, how to stop them, or anything like that but since they are so infrequent I dont worry about it too much. I do see that if you had depression more often how it could be a crippling mental illness.

I think it is super important to take care of yourself, both physically and mentally and illness is one part of it for sure.

-Gary