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Hate messages, negative criticisms & derogatory remarks are inevitable in creating awareness. In almost a decade of advocating, I constantly face rejections and disparaging statements that I lost count. If I were to get attached to each negative output and react to it, E for Endometriosis would not be here today.
However, this comment is noteworthy. Not with the intent to expose but to educate. It is never right to dismiss other people’s suffering.
Why?
Because the consequence of having experiences undermined extends beyond delayed diagnoses, it impacts people’s mental health too. Quoting my own experience, I attempted suicide not once; twice because I was made to believe my agony was not a big deal. It was this painful journey that established E for Endometriosis hence I feel the importance of addressing this remark openly.
How many more suicide cases must happen/ life lost before we are taken seriously?
“When other people invalidate a person’s pain, they may communicate that the person in pain is not worthy of empathy or support. This, in turn, may cause the person suffering from pain to question their own subjective state and their value as a human, creating feelings of shame, and inadequacy. Doubting one’s self-worth while still experiencing pain that others do not believe may culminate in depressive states.”
Published on Frontiers in Psychology from the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, United States.
Read the full research article here:
With this shared, I hope we could take some time to reflect on our actions and ask ourselves, have we ever made the people around us self-doubting their worth because of our insensitive remarks? If yes, let’s move to be a better version of ourselves empathetically because the world needs more of that.
“More smiling, less worrying. More compassion, less judgment. More blessed, less stressed. More love, less hate.” ― Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart
Namira Mohamad Marsudi
Founder
E for Endometriosis