Introducing myself!

Hi Everyone!

My name is Sophie and I just wanted to introduce myself. Although I don't have fibro I've had chronic pain/chronic illness since I was 11 (chronic migraines, depression and anxiety as well as IBS). And was exposed to the kind of ignorance and disbelief that I'm sure many of you have experienced. This came from medical professionals as well as my family and it sucked!!
While this was happening I was studying social anthropology (an amazing subject by the way!) at the University of Melbourne, Australia. So when the time came to do my research I wanted to do something about Chronic Pain, the stories around it, and how online forums affect the experience of Chronic Pain and Chronic illness.

So here I am :) My project, and social anthropology in general, is not about judging, just listening. I want to hear your stories and I want to, through my research, draw positive attention to this unique community. My project is completely anonymous (unless you want to be named), and obviously completely voluntary. The reason I've made it so broad, and haven't focused on fibro or IBS for example, was because I know many of us have multiple chronic illnesses/pain conditions and didn't want to put people in boxes, or limit the ways they were able to contribute.

I'll put more info in this thread, including consent forms (if anyone wants to have a private chat), a statement explaining my research and participation, as well as contact details for the uni and my supervisor if moderators are ok with that :)
Please feel free to talk to me about my project, or respond with any queries or stories about yourself, or the forum!

Hi Sherrine, I emailed Peter at [email protected] quite a while back about my research (about 3-4 weeks ago?) asking permission and informing him, and my registration on the forum was subsequently approved. :)

Sherrine I just thought I should put my info here if thats ok with you?
I've just got two links, one to a plain language statement about my research and participation:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1-zJGA6ShXqa9xt8m6nQdOEjbLZQ1Vb3scvx1GzcG24g/edit?pref=2&pli=1#heading=h.vj8hh4hvxl8n

and a link to an online consent form if anyone would like to participate:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/985RMC2

If you've got any questions please let me know :)

Thanks Lj. Let me know if you would like to participate in my research, all it is is a short interview on PM :)