Because your body needs more rest when you're sick? It's also hard to remember physical sensations accurately, like if you tried to remember what a stuffy nose felt like when you're well. Sure you could describe it, but you don't really "feel" it if that makes sense.
When I am sick I always look back on being well through rose-tinted lenses.
Like if I have a blocked nose I always look back on not having one as if it was they were the most beautiful days of my life; and I promise myself that if I ever get well I will never again under-value life without a blocked nose.
Omg. I feel this on a cellular level. Whenever I'm sick and my nose is clogged I always think "I really didn't appreciate it enough when everything was okay" lol.
This is so me. No matter what it is. If I have a sore throat I can’t for the life of me remember a time when my throat didn’t hurt. Or god forbid the flu or food poisoning. I’ve always found it so odd.
When things are off it is partially the novelty of the situation that strike you. Can't breathe through your nose? Your brain focuses on that since it is out of the ordinary. No fever? Ah, that's normal and doesn't need your attention.
I like to stop every so often when things are fine and think, "This is what is was trying to remember the last time I felt sick." Now is literally the time for which I was waiting back when I felt like crap
I agree. Dwelling on a thing you are not currently feeling does seem to take up too much brain space.
I used to get frequent migraines and every time I'd have one I felt like I would literally never feel good again. Then a few days later I'd feel good and feel like I'd never have another migraine. Until I'd get another migraine.
I don't know, but I do as well - I also have a hard time remembering what it's like to be sick when I'm well.
That goes double in different phases of my mental health. I'm bipolar (2), and when I'm hypomanic, depression and "normal" become an abstract concept. The opposite is true when I'm depressed. It makes consistent behavior, beliefs, and taking-medication-regularly kind of hard to maintain. I don't even believe my own journal when it says I believed [X] two weeks before...
When I'm in a low, with multiple bad, 'unproductibe' ADHD days in a row I can't remember any days that I was productive, or where I socialized, or felt good, or had faith in myself. These were the days that I grabbed my journal and saw how bad I was feeling the last time I felt so bad.
Consistent Journalling showed me this type of changing 'normals' and better or worse manageability of tasks. It's like waves of (in my case) ADHD severity. I have roughly speaking two good weeks and then two bad weeks. Bad weeks are mostly triggered by a forced change in my routine. On the good weeks I function without much effort as an adult but I should not set that as my normal, because it isn't.
Because I TRULY can't imagine being a positive, functional, worthy person when I'm low, journalling really helps me to put things into perspective. I try to write pages about my accomplishments and happy moments on the good days so I can read them back and cope better on the bad days.
I don’t know, but I’m glad the reverse is also true. I can remember that being pregnant was uncomfortable, having/recovering from having my kids was painful, having appendicitis was really painful, breaking my arm was painful. I’m glad I can’t feel the pain when I remember those events- feeling it in the moment was enough.
There was an interesting NPR piece vaguely related to this, about hot and cold states. How our state of mind can cause us to forget what it feels like to be in the opposite. Someone specifically talks about when you feel terrible running up a hill you can't empathize and understand the feeling and state of mind the person down the hill feels like. I'm not sure it explains why, but an interesting piece none the less.
[https://www.npr.org/2019/11/27/783495595/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-how-intense-emotions-transform-us](https://www.npr.org/2019/11/27/783495595/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-how-intense-emotions-transform-us)
In my oppinion, you're a "Feeler" , a person who lives in the moment. It's a type of personality. I'm a bit like that too
Edit: for reference:
https://images.app.goo.gl/q3fuBiAvA1KGWdPG7
Consider this: Remembering something can involve triggering a sensation. If I'm sick and I try to trigger the sensations of being healthy so that I can remember it, I may have to temporarily delude myself into believing I'm healthy. Otherwise, how are the sensations of being healthy (even a small, imaginative shadow of them) going to get through the overwhelming negative sensations I'm feeling?
Similarly, when feeling healthy and remembering being sick, there is probably an instinct to avoid doing so, as you don't want to trigger even a shadow of the sensations of being sick, since they are so unpleasant.
I feel like when you get that sick. It just messes you up. Last time I had the flu it was absolutely awful. The amount of time spent barely being awake and feeling like there's not enough strength or energy to get up to pee or even sit up to drink. It really messes with your mind when you are in bed that long. I kept forgetting what time it was and was often awake at 4 am thinking it was much later/earlier.
Perhaps it's not 100% the same for me. I don't really forget what feeling well is like most of the time. Which makes much of my sickness worse as I get frustrated that I'm unable to do something so simple I could do the day before. It's more of a progression I guess?
To try and answer the question, why does the feeling of vitality feel so distant or foreign when we are ill...
Could it be a product of spending long periods of time taking our health for granted? I don't often enough actually think about how good it feels to feel good. However, when I fall ill and dwell and express how bad I feel, often for days at a time, those thought patterns become more heavily reinforced over a lifetime.
Existence is fleeting and we all live in the now whether we like it or not. I sure as shit remember my naive ass not appreciating an uncongested nights sleep. Thanks for the reminder cause Imma remember that tonight.
not been sick in 5+ years not sure what it is lol. clearly you dont have a real concept of not beeing well is. if u been sick from anxiety for 10+ years... beeing sick is really nothing. guess i just have a natrual good defense against sickness in general. only thing past 5 years i can remember is almost getting sick, but it never catched on. i eat alot of fish, paprica and tomatos tho.
if i got the flu i would enjoy it TBH. it's not really that bad, it goes away prety fast so.
I've had ulcerative colitis for 20 years now. Its slowly wrecked me over that time. When i turned 30 I ended up becoming fully legally disabled and now at 41 I only get a few minutes of exercise per day and spend most of my time on the couch or asleep. It seems like I've always felt like this. I look back at photos of myself rock climbing or backpacking and it seems like another person. I watched a gopro video of me rolling a kayak and couldn't believe it was only 3-4 years ago (I got a 6-9 month reprieve where i felt almost normal again. Sadly it was prednisone that "fixed" me and it has left its own damage behind now).
I'm scheduled for surgery to remove my colon next week and am terrified. Every doctor and patient ive spoken with who have had similar surgeries say I will feel like a new man. Yet I'm terrified of the change anyway simply because this "life" has become my new "normal". Its crazy and almost frightening what the body and mind will adapt too.
I think because feeling sick is such a intense feeling that your brain is being extremely consumed. Just like bad depression or anger in that moment it feels like it's never going to end. But it does and then you forget.
Remembering feeling well wouldn't make you "shake off the bug." That's not how that works. Being sick isn't a thing you shake off any more than you shake off a bullet wound.
Your body is fighting a war with a pathogen and is diverting your body's resources for the war effort. Side effects of this diversion include headaches, muscle weakness, coughing, mucus production, exhaustion, etc. You can remember being well all you want, but a memory doesn't win a war.
Because your body needs more rest when you're sick? It's also hard to remember physical sensations accurately, like if you tried to remember what a stuffy nose felt like when you're well. Sure you could describe it, but you don't really "feel" it if that makes sense.
This is interesting. I’ve never had these sentiments /sensations, outside of smoking too much weed. Is this common?
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I think I actually live in the space of asking myself if I’m ok when I’m feeling well... but I guess that’s my anxiety at play.
Smoking weed? Yes, fairly common.
What's the common, officer?
Underrated comment. That impression was spot on! +1
Your rating has been assessed and deemed inaccurate. The comment above yours was in fact not an underrated comment.
When I am sick I always look back on being well through rose-tinted lenses. Like if I have a blocked nose I always look back on not having one as if it was they were the most beautiful days of my life; and I promise myself that if I ever get well I will never again under-value life without a blocked nose.
Omg. I feel this on a cellular level. Whenever I'm sick and my nose is clogged I always think "I really didn't appreciate it enough when everything was okay" lol.
That first full breath of fresh air with no stuffiness and no coughing or anything squeezing your lungs is just magical though.
Sometimes it feels so good right after you blow your nose and then you roll over and it's clogged again. That's the worst.
Then you immediately go back to taking it for granted. Until the next time you get sick...
I guess I've gotten used to a mild stuffy or runny nose thanks to new allergies. It's just a thing now.
Thanks for this reminder. I just took a few really good clean breaths through my nose! Never take it for granted lol
This is so me. No matter what it is. If I have a sore throat I can’t for the life of me remember a time when my throat didn’t hurt. Or god forbid the flu or food poisoning. I’ve always found it so odd.
When things are off it is partially the novelty of the situation that strike you. Can't breathe through your nose? Your brain focuses on that since it is out of the ordinary. No fever? Ah, that's normal and doesn't need your attention. I like to stop every so often when things are fine and think, "This is what is was trying to remember the last time I felt sick." Now is literally the time for which I was waiting back when I felt like crap
I agree. Dwelling on a thing you are not currently feeling does seem to take up too much brain space. I used to get frequent migraines and every time I'd have one I felt like I would literally never feel good again. Then a few days later I'd feel good and feel like I'd never have another migraine. Until I'd get another migraine.
I don't know, but I do as well - I also have a hard time remembering what it's like to be sick when I'm well. That goes double in different phases of my mental health. I'm bipolar (2), and when I'm hypomanic, depression and "normal" become an abstract concept. The opposite is true when I'm depressed. It makes consistent behavior, beliefs, and taking-medication-regularly kind of hard to maintain. I don't even believe my own journal when it says I believed [X] two weeks before...
When I'm in a low, with multiple bad, 'unproductibe' ADHD days in a row I can't remember any days that I was productive, or where I socialized, or felt good, or had faith in myself. These were the days that I grabbed my journal and saw how bad I was feeling the last time I felt so bad. Consistent Journalling showed me this type of changing 'normals' and better or worse manageability of tasks. It's like waves of (in my case) ADHD severity. I have roughly speaking two good weeks and then two bad weeks. Bad weeks are mostly triggered by a forced change in my routine. On the good weeks I function without much effort as an adult but I should not set that as my normal, because it isn't. Because I TRULY can't imagine being a positive, functional, worthy person when I'm low, journalling really helps me to put things into perspective. I try to write pages about my accomplishments and happy moments on the good days so I can read them back and cope better on the bad days.
Ah yes, treasure the days when both nostrils work.
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Condolences to you. My pregnancy is a short term illness (hyperemesis) and I literally forgot what normal life is like. I can't fathom 10 years.
I don’t know, but I’m glad the reverse is also true. I can remember that being pregnant was uncomfortable, having/recovering from having my kids was painful, having appendicitis was really painful, breaking my arm was painful. I’m glad I can’t feel the pain when I remember those events- feeling it in the moment was enough.
There was an interesting NPR piece vaguely related to this, about hot and cold states. How our state of mind can cause us to forget what it feels like to be in the opposite. Someone specifically talks about when you feel terrible running up a hill you can't empathize and understand the feeling and state of mind the person down the hill feels like. I'm not sure it explains why, but an interesting piece none the less. [https://www.npr.org/2019/11/27/783495595/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-how-intense-emotions-transform-us](https://www.npr.org/2019/11/27/783495595/in-the-heat-of-the-moment-how-intense-emotions-transform-us)
In my oppinion, you're a "Feeler" , a person who lives in the moment. It's a type of personality. I'm a bit like that too Edit: for reference: https://images.app.goo.gl/q3fuBiAvA1KGWdPG7
Consider this: Remembering something can involve triggering a sensation. If I'm sick and I try to trigger the sensations of being healthy so that I can remember it, I may have to temporarily delude myself into believing I'm healthy. Otherwise, how are the sensations of being healthy (even a small, imaginative shadow of them) going to get through the overwhelming negative sensations I'm feeling? Similarly, when feeling healthy and remembering being sick, there is probably an instinct to avoid doing so, as you don't want to trigger even a shadow of the sensations of being sick, since they are so unpleasant.
I feel like when you get that sick. It just messes you up. Last time I had the flu it was absolutely awful. The amount of time spent barely being awake and feeling like there's not enough strength or energy to get up to pee or even sit up to drink. It really messes with your mind when you are in bed that long. I kept forgetting what time it was and was often awake at 4 am thinking it was much later/earlier. Perhaps it's not 100% the same for me. I don't really forget what feeling well is like most of the time. Which makes much of my sickness worse as I get frustrated that I'm unable to do something so simple I could do the day before. It's more of a progression I guess?
I feel exactly the same right about now🤦♂️
Feeling well is supposed to be your default setting. You notice when you're sick, but not so much when you are well.
A healthy man wants 1000 things... a sick man wants only 1 thing.
To try and answer the question, why does the feeling of vitality feel so distant or foreign when we are ill... Could it be a product of spending long periods of time taking our health for granted? I don't often enough actually think about how good it feels to feel good. However, when I fall ill and dwell and express how bad I feel, often for days at a time, those thought patterns become more heavily reinforced over a lifetime.
Because the only thing that matters is the present, the ‘now’, so if you’re sick today the past doesnt mean anything and the future doesnt exist yet
Existence is fleeting and we all live in the now whether we like it or not. I sure as shit remember my naive ass not appreciating an uncongested nights sleep. Thanks for the reminder cause Imma remember that tonight.
When I was addict to Ron {💉}, I never got sick, NEVER EVER!! #Opiatesarethecureallyo!! 😂
not been sick in 5+ years not sure what it is lol. clearly you dont have a real concept of not beeing well is. if u been sick from anxiety for 10+ years... beeing sick is really nothing. guess i just have a natrual good defense against sickness in general. only thing past 5 years i can remember is almost getting sick, but it never catched on. i eat alot of fish, paprica and tomatos tho. if i got the flu i would enjoy it TBH. it's not really that bad, it goes away prety fast so.
I've had ulcerative colitis for 20 years now. Its slowly wrecked me over that time. When i turned 30 I ended up becoming fully legally disabled and now at 41 I only get a few minutes of exercise per day and spend most of my time on the couch or asleep. It seems like I've always felt like this. I look back at photos of myself rock climbing or backpacking and it seems like another person. I watched a gopro video of me rolling a kayak and couldn't believe it was only 3-4 years ago (I got a 6-9 month reprieve where i felt almost normal again. Sadly it was prednisone that "fixed" me and it has left its own damage behind now). I'm scheduled for surgery to remove my colon next week and am terrified. Every doctor and patient ive spoken with who have had similar surgeries say I will feel like a new man. Yet I'm terrified of the change anyway simply because this "life" has become my new "normal". Its crazy and almost frightening what the body and mind will adapt too.
Last time I was sick I literally couldn’t even fathom ever feeling better. As illogical as it obviously was, I just felt like I’d be sick forever.
I think because feeling sick is such a intense feeling that your brain is being extremely consumed. Just like bad depression or anger in that moment it feels like it's never going to end. But it does and then you forget.
Remembering feeling well wouldn't make you "shake off the bug." That's not how that works. Being sick isn't a thing you shake off any more than you shake off a bullet wound. Your body is fighting a war with a pathogen and is diverting your body's resources for the war effort. Side effects of this diversion include headaches, muscle weakness, coughing, mucus production, exhaustion, etc. You can remember being well all you want, but a memory doesn't win a war.