Disorder

October may be called the spookiest month and it culminates with Halloween, but this illustration isn't about that.

Today, October 7, is the International Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) Awareness Day. If you don't know what TN is, consider yourself very, very lucky. Unfortunately, I'm one of the rare ones (or maybe not so rare anymore?) who aren't that lucky and who have been struggling with that annoying and extremely painful illness for the most of their lives.

TN is a chronic pain disorder that affects the trigeminal nerve in your face. There can be either episodes of severe, sudden, shock-like pain in one side of the face that lasts for seconds to a few minutes (groups of these episodes can occur over a few hours) or a constant burning pain that is less severe. Episodes may be triggered by stress, touch or even by changes in weather and it's one of the most painful conditions a human can feel. It can affect your life quality, result in depression and even lead to suicide (that's why it's also called "the suicide disease").

It usually appears when you're over 50 years old, but can occur at any age and women are more commonly affected than men. I was unlucky enough to be the exception to the rule and get my first painful episodes when I was about 14 years old. I feel pain in the right mandibular nerve and still, about thirty decades later, don't know the exact cause of it. I'll likely have it for the rest of my life and as time goes by, it doesn't seem to get any better. There are some medications and treatments, but you'll likely have to endure the seizures while they last. When it comes to raising awareness of this disorder, there's also a ribbon you can wear - and it's teal.

A big thank you to all people in my life who understand and put up with me when I'm in painful phases (they usually last continuously for half a month, although it varies), especially to my parents who must have had a terrible time coping with this situation, mainly during my teenage years when we didn't know what it was and how to react (I was diagnosed much later).

I'm sorry if this illustration is disturbing for some of you, but I believe it perfectly depicts the message I'm trying to send when I talk about this condition. Some of you might even recognize my inspiration for it - a Stephen Colbert's quadruple facepalm meme - sorry, I hope I didn't ruin it for you. 😜