The Chronic Illness Identity Trap (ft. Nitika Chopra)

This week on Calling in Sick, I'm sitting down with Nitika Chopra, founder of Chronicon, chronic illness advocate, and someone who has been navigating life with a body that doesn't cooperate since she was 10 years old. We discuss everything from our lifelong fights with chronic illness to finding identity outside of the fight. Tune into hear more about: 🧒 Nitika’s diagnosis story (psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis) — what growing up feeling completely separate from everyone around her actually felt like + being bombarded by toxic positivity messaging that made her feel responsible for her own illness ⚡ What triggered her neuromuscular disease — six months of terrifying undiagnosed symptoms including double vision, neuroinflammation, inability to smile or swallow, before finally being diagnosed with Myasthenia Gravis 💊 The Prednisone impact - rapid weight gain & the treatment reality that nobody glamorizes 🪞 The chronic illness identity shift — Nitika's realization that she was only allowing herself to build an identity around chronic illness and being sick, and why she refuses to let the community feel like they have to stay sick to still belong 🤍 The duality of chronic illness — and why remission can feel as complicated as a flare This one hit close to home for me personally. We are in the peaks AND the pits of this life. And this conversation is for both. xx, Alex 💬 Comment: Has your chronic illness ever become part of your identity in a way that felt hard to let go of? TIMESTAMPS: Intro: 00:00:00 Welcome back to Calling in Sick! 00:00:10 Intro to Nitika Chopra Nitika’s Diagnostic History: 00:02:04 Nitika’s first chronic illness diagnosis at age 10 00:05:42 Growing up in Ohio & feelings of separateness 00:06:17 Developing psoriatic arthritis 10 years later Young Adulthood & Career Evolution: 00:11:36 Dealing with severe chronic flare-ups in Nitika’s early 20s 00:12:01 The impact of toxic positivity and damaging self-help culture 00:14:03 Physical isolation, medication shifts, and accepting help 00:23:58 What is Myasthenia Gravis & Nitika’s diagnosis story 00:29:44 Weight swings and rapid 40-pound gain from prednisone The Duality of the Chronic Illness Identity: 00:36:24 Nuances of the chronic illness identity and outgrowing aspects of it 00:41:27 The juxtaposition of needing a freedom to heal while also needing the community that get’s the pits of chronic illness 00:45:00 How Alex’s pregnancy remission state has shifted her identity and relation to chronic illness for the time being Conclusion: 00:49:25 One Brain Cell picks of the week (Survival of the Thickest (Netflix), Famesick by Lena Dunham) 00:51:22 Where to find Nitika Chopra (@nitakachopra) 00:52:57 Thank you for listening (Like, Subscribe, and Share!) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Stay connected and follow us on socials for more! • Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/callinginsickpod/ • TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@callinginsickpod • Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61558234607568 • Substack - https://substack.com/@callinginsickpod? Connect with our guest: Nitika Chopra! • Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/nitikachopra/?hl=en • Website - https://nitikachopra.com/ • Join ChroniCon - https://chronicon.co/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- Powered by: Just Media House -- https://www.justmediahouse.com/ Produced by: Alexandra Wildeson — https://www.instagram.com/alexandrawildeson/ #ChronicIllnessIdentity #NitikChopra #Chronicon #Psoriasis #PsoriaticArthritis #MyastheniaGravis #ChronicIllness #SpoonieLife #InvisibleIllness #AutoimmuneDisease #ChronicIllnessCommunity #ToxicPositivity #RemissionGuilt #ChronicIllnessAwareness #IdentityShift #BelongingWithoutBeingSick #ChronicPain #MentalHealth #CallingInSickPodcast #AlexWildeson Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices