Childhood chronic pain: ‘There’s a self-hatred that stems from chronic pain and illness, as much as I know it’s not my fault’

Adolescents with chronic pain can struggle to complete education, participate in activities or fit in with their peers. Here, two young women who finished school in fifth year as a result of fibromyalgia and endometriosis share their stories

Abigail Stone (21) has suffered from fibromyalgia and migraines since her early teens. Photo: Ray Ryan

Kate Brayden

How can adolescents fit in with their peers — who are typically heading to nightclubs after college lectures, crashing on couches when the party wraps up and balancing weekend work in a pub — when their bodies refuse to allow it?

According to NUI Galway, one in three people in Ireland have chronic pain, with one in five people living with pain for 10 years or more. If disabling pain begins at a young age, what happens when you are forced to miss your entire adolescence? The impact that can have on a person in their development stage could only be devastating. Having attended pain clinics since the age of 21, speaking with two brave young women for this piece brings back a lot of difficult memories for me.