spoon theory: a low-spoons-friendly summary

nonbinary-support:

darrenchris:

monsterau:

it’s sort of ironic that the original article on spoon theory costs so many spoons to read, so i decided to write a brief summary for people who need it

• spoon theory is an analogy
• in it, spoons = energy
• you get [x] number of spoons a day ([x] amount of energy), & doing things costs [x] number of spoons ([x] amount of energy)
• for example, you get 10 spoons today; getting up costs 1, making food costs 2, making a phone call costs 2, watching a tv episode costs 2, etc
• the purpose of spoon theory is to explain to abled/healthy people what being disabled/chronically ill is like, in a way they might find easier to understand
• it highlights how little energy disabled/chronically ill people have when compared to abled healthy people, how much more energy things can cost, & how careful they have to be in prioritising what they spend that energy on
• disabled/chronically ill people also use it as a way of talking about their energy levels
• if you say “i’m low on spoons”, you’re not just saying you’re low on energy; you’re saying you’re low on energy because you’re disabled/chronically ill
• for this reason, abled healthy people don’t get to say “i’m low on spoons”

here’s the link to the original article

also worth noting: 

• creator of spoon theory has said it is okay to apply it to mental illness as well. 
• your benchmark on whether you’re “sick enough” to use spoons is your own, so if you feel like it applies, it can apply.

heres anther explanation of the spoon theory!