Julia Is Sharing The Ups And Downs Of Chronic Pain In All Honesty

When Julia, a college student was first diagnosed with IBD or irritable bowel disease, she felt incredibly alone. Having struggled with symptoms for years, she was no stranger to the daily struggle of a chronic disease, but surprisingly found that a diagnostic did not fix everything.

Despite searching everywhere for art or media that would somehow capture her pain and presumably the pain of others, she found there was a void for these kinds of conversations. Thus came about ‘The Chronically Honest’, an instagram page sharing daily affirmations, art and venting moments, in hopes of making others feel less alone.

Through her page, Julia wants to share not just the triumphs or the ‘get well soon’ type messages, but also explore the downside of chronic illness in a safe space. In an interview with ‘Light Camera Crohns’, Julia revealed:

‘I was met with countless stories of positivity and turning a bad situation into a good new perspective on life. While I definitely appreciate that and know positivity is vital when dealing with IBD I was searching for something that showed struggle and depicted the crappy side of living with this disease (pun intended)!’ (Light Camera Crohns, July 2020)

She has found that her art can act as a coping mechanism, a way to get the pain out, and at the same time encourage others to do the same. Because in a society so obsessed with self-improvement and fixing stuff, sometimes sharing the bad with the good can be the bravest thing to do.

Browse down below to discover the type of content Julia shares on her account!