Dealing with an illness is already a painful and exhausting process. The lack of compassion from one’s inner circle and professionals can make the circumstances more challenging, often taking a toll on the mental health of the suffering individual. For this reason, living with a disease with unusual or obscure symptoms can become lonely and alienating. Brittany O’Connor, an internationally acclaimed ballet dancer, has first-hand experience dealing with a seemingly invisible auto-immune disease. Her story is one of resilience, as she alone battled with her illness and its effects, all the while establishing a notable career.
Auto-immune disease often results from a person’s immune system attacking the body instead of protecting it. Medical professionals are unclear about the causes of this unusual behavior. Yet, the fact stands that there are over 100 known auto-immune disorders, all causing extreme discomfort to the afflicted person. Auto-immune diseases are often called invisible sickness because the most common symptoms, like chronic fatigue, low energy, bone weakness, dizziness, pain, digestive and urinary issues, etc., can go unnoticed or be easily brushed off as not critical.
Brittany suffered from this problem from a young age. In addition to the pain of the disease, the indifferent attitude of doctors and people around her was hard on her. Despite having weak kidneys, cysts on her ovaries, bone fractures, strep throat, and more, Brittany was repeatedly told that it was all in her head. Instead of pointing out her disease and finding remedies, she was misdiagnosed with Hypochondria or illness anxiety, wherein a person has a constant but irrational fear of being sick.
Such ignorance and blatant disregard for her experience and suffering led Brittany to develop mental health issues. She started suffering from depression and anxiety, clueless about how to deal with her pain when even the doctors told her it wasn’t there. Although she was professionally thriving as a ballerina, her emotional, mental, and physical health were at their lowest.
Tired of going through this torment, Brittany decided to trust her gut – she began to research her condition, getting the idea that she might have one of the auto-immune disorders. Her self-diagnosis got an official stamp from a doctor in Paris, who identified her illness as Stage 4 Hashimoto, hypothyroid, and thyroid atrophy. Finally, after fifteen years, Brittany had a concrete answer to her problem – “For years, I thought I was crazy. It wasn’t until I did my own research and trusted my gut that I knew I wasn’t. I have gone through depression and anxiety. I fought to get the answers, and once I found the right doctor, I began my healing process. This has opened up a different way of life for me – a life of understanding myself and compassion for myself and others,” recalls Brittany.
Brittany now uses her platform to speak about the isolation and estrangement one goes through with this disease. She advocates for open-mindedness from doctors, family, and friends of the ill person. It is important to uplift Brittany’s voice, for such stories have the power to open conversations around the reality of auto-immune disorders. We are sure that Brittany’s truth will help many other individuals.
You can follow Brittany on Instagram to catch up with her future endeavors.