GLOSSARY
Spoon Theory Explained...
(I WANT TO BE SEEN, DOWN THE DRAIN NEWSPRINT, CHRONIC ILLNESS & WASTED ENERGY, DOWN THE DRAIN)
Spoon Theory looks at how a person with a chronic illness lives, and has both less energy as well as needs more, by putting energy into a non-numerical format.
A Spoon is simply a portion of the energy with which we wake up everyday. We assume everyone starts the day with 100 spoons but every task costs a different amount of spoons for different people.
For example: For Emily who is healthy getting dressed in the morning costs 1 spoon, it’s easy enough to account into her energy costs for the day. Whereas, for Olivia, who has a disability, getting dressed costs 5 Spoons. However, Olivia also spent more spoons than she had yesterday as she had a project at work due, so she started the day with -20 Spoons from yesterday so she has 80 spoons to spend today.
Burnout and illness are more likely to occur when your body is run down and tired all the time.
Spoon theory is relevant for anyone who is chronically ill, disabled, has chronic fatigue, mental illness such as depression or BPD, or even being neurodivergent.
“In her 2003 essay "The Spoon Theory", American writer Christine Miserandino writes about a time she told a friend about her experience with lupus. As they were at a restaurant, Miserandino grabbed spoons and gave them to her friend. Miserandino used the spoons to demonstrate that people with chronic illness often start their days off with limited quantities of energy. The number of spoons represented how much energy she had to spend throughout the day. As Miserandino's friend stated the different tasks she completed throughout the day, Miserandino took away a spoon for each activity. The exercise demonstrated how people with chronic illness may plan their actions in order to conserve their energy.”Spoon theory - Wikipedia