I've been reading and viewing the opinions of people with chronic illness that hate the spoon theory. Reasons they give are: 1. The spoon theory doesn't account for the fact that one day an action may take more "spoons" than another.
2. Some people have the opinion that you can "borrow" spoons from the next day.
3. It's been appropriated by people who don't have a specific set of conditions.
And I understand that regardless of my take on this, there are still going to be people who feel that the spoon theory minimizes or trivializes their illness. I'm not sure how they communicate their day to day needs to the people around them, but they certainly despise this tool.
I find it useful.
1. The spoon theory was designed as an EXAMPLE of how "energy" is dispersed throughout the day as a way to illustrate how every day activities most people don't even think about require some sort of physical investment. It doesn't delve deeply into all the details of that, and it was meant, originally, to describe Lupus, however, many people who have chronic illnesses have such similar experiences, they have used it as well. I think a lot of people act like a spoon equals a constant, set, predetermined amount of energy, like calories or something, or that all spoons are the same, or that all tasks can be measured in the same kind of spoons. The problem with generalizations is that some people will always find that they aren't specific enough, but those generalizations are used to introduce outsiders to a new idea and give them a foundation to build on, NOT to describe in detail the impact of each and every action on every specific individual. 2. I, myself, have said that I'm borrowing spoons from tomorrow. That's one of my own personal adaptations of the theory that I apply to explain something I've personally done: which is keep going to the point where I'm physically wrecked, knowing that I will be in horrendous pain and exhaustion the next day. This isn't something that's part of the original Spoon Theory, it's just a way for me to customize what I'm communicating to fit my own personal experience. I'm of the opinion that if thinking of a handful of all teaspoons (which was what was available at the time to Christine Miserandino when she was explaining her Lupus to her friend) can also be altered to include different kinds of spoons, because there are different experiences of energy: physical and emotional labor come immediately to mind. So maybe some spoons are big wooden stirring spoons, and some are little silver teaspoons, and they aren't interchangeable. Maybe that's another way to adapt the theory. Or maybe you don't want to use the theory at all, and have some other way to discuss it. Everyone doesn't need an identical tool kit. At the same time, we can discuss how some tools are relevant to our own tool kit, without being insulted that someone else has a different tool kit. 3. The Spoon Theory has been appropriated by people outside the community of chronic illness. I agree. It has been. does that mean that it's not relevant or that it in some way diminishes the theory? I don't believe so. But we can't use it to "signal" illness anymore. But let's remember, this Theory was used to describe one woman's experience with Lupus. It was then pretty widely shared among us Lupies, then into the community of autoimmune disease, then into a wider chronic illness community. For these third generation spoonies to be quibbling over whether people with mental illness (like depression) or developmental disorders (like autism) "get to use" the spoon theory seems to me to be a little disingenuous. And as for "normies" using the term "spoons", I also don't really object to that, because it shows a widespread understanding of the term, and how it's used to denote the ability to do something. Does it minimize it when a "normie" uses the term that was coined to explain chronic illness? Maybe. Again, it no longer signals chronic illness, but it does accurately explain the phenomenon of having limits to what one can do. Understanding that a well person has many more spoons (and perhaps of many more types) than an unwell person does is a key component to communication here. Today I'm sitting here reading this in incredible pain, with lidocaine patch on my ankle, but the rest of my joints (and a few of my tendons) just SCREAMING. I will explain that yesterday I borrowed spoons from today: pushed myself too hard and today I'm suffering, physically and emotionally. I'd planned for today to be a low energy day, knowing what I planned for yesterday was going to wreck me. If the Spoon Theory helps the members of my volunteer community understand why I've said I'm going to be "no contact" today, I'm gonna pull it out of my tool kit and apply it to MYSELF.
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