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Invisible Illness

Medium’s biggest mental health publication

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Letting Go of the Perfection Project as I Heal from Chronic Fatigue

What I discovered about trying too hard to heal as an autistic ADHDer

9 min readMar 22, 2025

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On Neurodiversity Celebration Week, I’ve discovered something that may not initially look like a cause for celebration, but has given me insight leading to a renewed appreciation for my differences.

In the past few weeks, as I’ve faced the upheaval of moving house for the third time in fourteen months and continued to support one of my partners in the face of a serious medical investigation, it has become clear to me that I push myself with my healing journey the way others push themselves with 40-hour work weeks.

My means that once I decide on a goal or an interest, I am wholly consumed with achieving that. It’s no different with wanting to heal from chronic illness. My single-track mind is a big part of the way that I drive myself, the same way I used to when I studied full-time for a demanding Psychology degree, cramming in two jobs on the side.

I still try to fit in way too much, in service to my goals, the way I did when I was a single working mother determined to home educate my son even though the sound of many children in one room was a sensory nightmare for me.

Invisible Illness
Invisible Illness
Morgana Clementine
Morgana Clementine

Written by Morgana Clementine

Neurodiversity advocate and writer. Author of vanlife & nature connection memoir, ‘The Wild Wandering Arc' & 'Wild Motherhood'.

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