comments:
It is a selection bias on the internet. Think of how bored and lonely you would feel if you were so sick that you couldn't work or go out much into the world. The people who are sick and posting online are doing it for social interaction and to help raise awareness about the condition. In those cases, you would have nothing to lose and everything to gain. For reference, 75% of pots patients are able to work. The most severe ones tend to be the ones with primary dx with little or no treatments like ME/CFS, or medicine hasn't caught up to them yet and all treatments have failed. They make up a small percentage of those with the dx, but they get the most visibility online. Take me for example. I am an SLP who works full time. I have been symptomatic for 15 years, and it has been a long road. At work, other than my braces for heds, you would never look at me and know the extent of my illness. I have learned the hard way that disclosing these things makes you a target for bullying. So I try to blend in as much as possible. You would not see me making content about my life due to the risks to my employment. So the majority of us post anonymously or in private groups, if we post at all (the mild ones tend not to at all). As for the trend factor, medicine is extremely behind in women's diseases. So there are a lot of women out there suffering with no answers. My somatic symptoms were blamed on anxiety for far too long. I have been cleared by psychology, my symptoms are organic. It is easier to call something a "tiktok diagnosis" than it is to admit that we fundamentally have a poor understanding of the female body. "All in her head" is a great book to explore this topic further. I will link it for you or anyone else reading. https://www.amazon.com/All-Her-Head-Medicine-Matters/dp/0063293013