What Is a Chronic Illness?

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A lack of stamina goes hand-in-hand with chronic tiredness and fatigue.

The chronically ill often have to use adrenaline to get through necessary tasks.

Ongoing tiredness and fatigue takes a mental toll on the chronically ill.

Equanimity is the key to living well with chronic illness.

I’ve been chronically ill with what I call “the flu without the fever” for close to 25 years. Today, I’m called a “long hauler” because I never recovered from a virus I caught in 2001. It cost me my job and the ability to travel. I’m pretty much housebound.

I’m certain that those of you with illnesses or pain conditions (I have both—chronic illness includes pain) have encountered people who say things like “I’m tired too.” It’s hard not to get angry when you hear that because “tired” and “fatigued” mean something entirely different to us. A person who is tired or fatigued feels better if he or she gets several good nights’ sleep.

By contrast, if I sleep eight hours, days in a row, I’m still tired and fatigued. It goes with my illness.

I thought it would be instructive to list what many chronically ill people mean by the words “tired” and “fatigued.” I just gave one example—a good night’s sleep can still leave us feeling as if we haven’t........

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