https://spooniversity.org/blog Articles on chronic illness, patient advocacy, energy management, and building a career when your body doesn't cooperate. Written by people who live it. en-gb Tue, 21 Apr 2026 08:25:48 GMT https://spooniversity.org/icons/apple-touch-icon.png https://spooniversity.org/blog https://spooniversity.org/blog/chronic-illness-and-identity https://spooniversity.org/blog/chronic-illness-and-identity Chronic illness reshapes identity in ways that are real and serious. The question isn't whether to let illness be part of who you are — it's how to make sure it isn't all of who you are. Tue, 28 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Understanding Chronic Illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/disability-benefits-chronic-illness-guide https://spooniversity.org/blog/disability-benefits-chronic-illness-guide Getting disability benefits when your condition is invisible, variable, or poorly understood is one of the hardest administrative processes chronically ill people face. Here's how to approach it. Sun, 26 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Patient Advocacy https://spooniversity.org/blog/working-from-home-chronic-illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/working-from-home-chronic-illness Remote work promised flexibility — but the standard home office setup still assumes a body that cooperates. Here is what genuinely helps when yours doesn't. Wed, 22 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Career & Work https://spooniversity.org/blog/energy-accounting-chronic-illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/energy-accounting-chronic-illness Spoon theory tells you what energy depletion feels like. Energy accounting tells you what to do about it. A practical framework for managing variable capacity. Mon, 20 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Energy & Pacing https://spooniversity.org/blog/what-is-a-navigate https://spooniversity.org/blog/what-is-a-navigate Patient advocacy is a real profession with growing demand. Here's what patient advocates actually do, who they help, and why chronically ill people have a head start. Tue, 14 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Career & Work https://spooniversity.org/blog/why-we-dropped-the-cohort-price https://spooniversity.org/blog/why-we-dropped-the-cohort-price Behind the scenes: we had a €749 cohort ready to launch, then killed it 6 days before. Here's why we chose €299/year flat pricing instead — and what we learned about pricing for people with variable income. (Historical/decision-making post) Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Education https://spooniversity.org/blog/spooniversity-waitlist-story https://spooniversity.org/blog/spooniversity-waitlist-story Most online education is priced for people who don't have chronic illness. We built something different. €299/year for all Bed programs, with a payment plan option for cash-flow flexibility. Here's why. Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Education https://spooniversity.org/blog/career-change-with-chronic-illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/career-change-with-chronic-illness Chronic illness forces many people out of careers they built. Here's a practical look at how to re-enter the workforce, reframe your experience, and build something that works for your actual body. Wed, 08 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Career & Work https://spooniversity.org/blog/sick-tax-chronic-illness-costs https://spooniversity.org/blog/sick-tax-chronic-illness-costs Chronic illness is expensive — in ways that go far beyond medical bills. A frank accounting of the full cost: financial, professional, social, and temporal, and why it matters to name it accurately. Sat, 04 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Understanding Chronic Illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/pots-mecfs-fibromyalgia-mcas-explained https://spooniversity.org/blog/pots-mecfs-fibromyalgia-mcas-explained These four conditions affect millions of people globally, are frequently misdiagnosed or dismissed, and are still poorly understood by most clinicians. A plain-language explanation of what they are and why they're so hard to get diagnosed. Wed, 01 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT Understanding Chronic Illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/learning-with-chronic-illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/learning-with-chronic-illness Most online learning platforms are just lectures on a screen. Here's what actually has to change for chronically ill people to be able to learn — and what's finally being done about it. Tue, 31 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Education https://spooniversity.org/blog/chronic-illness-constraint-based-learning https://spooniversity.org/blog/chronic-illness-constraint-based-learning Chronic illness forces you to learn differently — shorter windows, higher selectivity, lower tolerance for the irrelevant. That isn't only a limitation. In some ways, it turns out to be a better way to learn. Sun, 29 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Education https://spooniversity.org/blog/invisible-disability-workplace-rights https://spooniversity.org/blog/invisible-disability-workplace-rights Having an invisible illness and a job — or trying to keep one — involves navigating legal rights, disclosure decisions, and a workplace culture that may not be built for you. A practical guide. Fri, 27 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Career & Work https://spooniversity.org/blog/what-is-medical-gaslighting https://spooniversity.org/blog/what-is-medical-gaslighting Being dismissed, disbelieved, or told it's anxiety when it isn't — medical gaslighting is widespread and its effects are serious. Here's how to recognise it and what to do. Tue, 24 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Patient Advocacy https://spooniversity.org/blog/sixty-percent-rule-pacing https://spooniversity.org/blog/sixty-percent-rule-pacing Working at less than full capacity isn't giving up. For people with chronic illness, consistently staying within your energy envelope is one of the most effective management strategies available. Here's the evidence and the practice. Mon, 23 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Energy & Pacing https://spooniversity.org/blog/symptom-tracking-chronic-illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/symptom-tracking-chronic-illness Most symptom tracking is too vague to be clinically useful. Here's how to build a documentation record that captures the right information — and changes what happens in medical appointments. Sat, 21 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Patient Advocacy https://spooniversity.org/blog/brain-fog-chronic-illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/brain-fog-chronic-illness Brain fog is one of the most common and most dismissed symptoms of chronic illness. Here's what's actually happening neurologically, why it's not just about sleep, and what actually helps. Wed, 18 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Understanding Chronic Illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/how-to-get-doctors-to-listen https://spooniversity.org/blog/how-to-get-doctors-to-listen A practical communication framework for chronically ill patients who are tired of being dismissed, disbelieved, or managed out of the room. Tue, 17 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Patient Advocacy https://spooniversity.org/blog/post-exertional-malaise-explained https://spooniversity.org/blog/post-exertional-malaise-explained Post-exertional malaise is not tiredness. It's a systemic crash that follows exertion and can last days or weeks. Here's what it actually is, why it matters for everything from pacing to diagnosis, and why most standard medical advice makes it worse. Sun, 15 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Understanding Chronic Illness https://spooniversity.org/blog/spoon-theory-explained https://spooniversity.org/blog/spoon-theory-explained Spoon theory changed how millions of chronically ill people describe their lives. Here's what it gets right, what it misses, and what to do when the metaphor breaks down. Tue, 10 Mar 2026 00:00:00 GMT Understanding Chronic Illness