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Sasha's picture

Can you have an illness and not even know it? Yes.

I found David's question about illness- whether or not someone can be ill and not know it- interesting and initially I was conflicted. I kind of liked the definition of "functionality" as a way to determine if someone is ill or not. However, upon further reflection I think that "functionality" is perhaps only really a measure for the severity of an illness and not really a diagnostic tool for determining illness.
With that in mind, I believe that it is possible to have an illness and not even know it. People have high blood pressure and don't know it unless they get it checked or it's too late and have a heart attack... my father had a heart attack and didn't even know it until he went to the doctor for a check up and they told him he had a significant amount of scar tissue on his heart and severe heart disease.
Individuals live with depression and anxiety and just accept it as a way of life- throwing up before tests because of nervousness or crying for no particular reason and not being able to sleep at night is just the way people think they are wired, when in fact they could have serious depression or generalized anxiety disorder and could get treated for it. Untreated depression has the potential to ruin peoples lives and lead people to suicide. Nausea doesn't do that.
It is important to acknowledge that mental disorders such as depression and anxiety are illnesses so that people who are affected by them realize they don't have to live with the pain. There are treatments available and upon recognizing that they have an illness perhaps people will be more likely to seek those treatments to improve their quality of life.
 

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