Spoon Theory Anxiety

One of those things is spoon theory.

Spoon theory anxiety. Many people living with conditions ranging from fibromyalgia to anxiety to depression to diabetes self identify as spoonies and use the theory to explain their lives to people who may not understand the scope of their illness. Everybody has limitations physical monetary emotional even just limits on the time they can spend but people who don t have to contend with their health on a daily basis operate under the assumption they can get done all they need to in a day. Each activity requires a given number of spoons which will only be replaced as the person recharges through rest. The spoons theory for depression the spoons theory is very powerful when applied to your mental illness for a few reasons.

The spoon theory or spoon metaphor is a disability metaphor a neologism used to explain the reduced amount of mental and physical energy available for activities of living and productive tasks that may result from disability or chronic illness. We give more grace when you look at your day and realize you only have a few spoons to work with you can give yourself a bit of grace. The spoon theory a personal story by christine miserandino is popular among many people dealing with chronic illness. Spoon theory was created by christine miserandino in a 2003 essay she described using the metaphor to describe to a friend what it felt like to have a chronic invisible illness in her case lupus.

Spoonies use spoon theory to help explain their struggles most commonly in energy or pain management but may also use it to describe their anxiety levels ability to deal with outside stimuli or crowds as well as a number of challenges they may face. The idea of having enough spoons has worked its way into the vocabulary of loved ones and even people who do not suffer from chronic illness but who understand that we all have a limited amount of spoons. She and her friend were in a restaurant at the time and a spoon was easily available to use as a metaphor. Spoons are a visual representation used as a unit of measure in order to quantify how much energy a person has throughout a given day.

Spoon theory isn t saying that only physically or mentally ill people or people with disabilities have limits. I believe however it is perfectly applicable to anxiety and depression as well. In a blog titled the spoon theory christine miserandino describes how she showed her friend what it s like to have lupus. This is the spoon theory a concept developed by miserandino and frequently referenced among those with chronic or invisible illness.

It describes perfectly this idea of limited energy using spoons as a.