Today’s New York Times has an article that asks: If you have a serious medical condition, whom should you tell? One of the people described in the article (the author’s father) has Parkinson’s.
As I’m all in favor of letting people know I have PD, I’ll paste here some of the benefits cited in the article.
……….
It may help your own health: by being open about your illness, you may get valuable information from others that can help you, especially if you join a social support group.
“When patients seek out others with similar illnesses, their knowledge grows exponentially….[R]esearch shows that patients who participate in peer groups have learned tips about drug sequencing or little-known specialists that proved critical to their care.”
You may feel better:
“A primary thing people gain from going public is a sense of comfort in connecting with others.”
It gives you a sense of control:
“[Revealing the diagnosis to others] gives patients a sense of control over their lives at a time of often intense helplessness.”
You can click to the article to read more, especially the cautionary parts about why you might not want to tell absolutely everybody.
The Times had a similar article a few years ago, exclusively about coming out with Parkinson’s disease. It discusses the benefits as well as the detriments. Click here for that.
You can also download this PDF from the Michael J. Fox Foundation; it’s a kind of how-to guide for sharing your diagnosis:
And for my own story about coming out at work, click here.
Great article! Thanks for sharing and being open about your life!