Spoon theory

The spoon theory^[a] or spoon metaphor is a metaphor or neologism in regards to ego depletion/fatigue, used to describe the amount of mental and physical energy a person has available for activities of living and productive tasks. It is especially used to explain the reduced amount of energy that may result from disability or chronic condition. The Spoons are a visual representation used as a unit of measure of the energy.

Explanation of the metaphor

The metaphor is mainly used by people with a disability or chronic condition/illness/disease. Spoons are a visual representation used as a unit of measure to quantify the amount of mental and physical energy a person has available for activities of living and productive tasks throughout a given amount of time (i.e. a day or week). Each activity requires a number of spoons, which will only be replaced as the person "recharges" through rest. A person who runs out of spoons has no choice but to rest until their spoons are replenished.

This metaphor is used to describe the planning that many people have to do to conserve and ration their energy reserves to accomplish their activities of daily living.^[1] The planning and rationing of energy-consuming tasks, known as pacing, has been described as being a major concern of people with a (fatigue-related) disability or chronic condition/illness/disease. Because people without a (fatigue-related) disability or chronic condition/illness/disease typically are not concerned with the energy expended during ordinary tasks such as bathing and getting dressed, the theory can help them empathize with the consequences of chronic illness or pain on daily routine.^[2] The theory explains the difference and facilitate discussions between those with limited energy reserves and those with (seemingly) limitless energy reserves.^[3]^[4]

Spoons are widely discussed within autoimmune, disability, mental and other chronic illness online communities,^[5]^[6] as an emic descriptor.^[7] The term spoonie is sometimes used to refer to a person with a chronic illness that can be explained with the spoon theory.^[2]^[7]

Origin

The term spoons in this sense was coined by Christine Miserandino in 2003 in her essay "The Spoon Theory".^[8]^[9] In her essay, Miserandino describes a conversation between herself and a friend.^[10] The discussion was initiated by a question from the friend in which she asked what having lupus feels like. To explain, Miserandino took spoons from nearby tables to use as a visual aid. She handed her friend twelve spoons and asked her to describe the events of a typical day, taking a spoon away for each activity. In this way, she demonstrated that her spoons, or units of energy, must be rationed to avoid running out before the end of the day. She also asserted that it is possible to exceed one's daily limit, but that doing so means borrowing from the future and may result in not having enough spoons the next day. Miserandino suggested that spoon theory can be helpful for explaining the experience of living with any disease or illness.^[4]

Spoon theory has been used by people with chronic fatigue syndrome,^[11] chronic pain,^[12] and conditions that causes cognitive or social difficulties, such as autism and major depressive disorder, as long as they limit the amount of everyday activities somebody can undertake.^{[citation needed]} Spoon theory is most commonly used to refer to the experience of having an invisible disability, because people with no outward symptoms or symbols of their condition are often perceived as lazy, inconsistent or having poor time management skills by those who have no first-hand knowledge of living with a chronic illness. Naomi Chainey has described how the term has also spread to use by some in the wider disability community, and eventually the able-bodied community, to refer to non-chronic forms of fatigue and mental exhaustion – which she attributes to people with invisible disabilities being a sometimes marginalized group even within the disability community.^[13]

Special considerations

According to the spoon theory, spoons (units of energy) may be replaced after rest or a night of sleep. However, people with chronic conditions, such as autoimmune diseases, and various disabilities may have sleep difficulties. This can result in a particularly low supply of energy.^[14]
Some people with a disability may not be fatigued by the disabilities themselves, but by the constant effort required to pass as non-disabled.^[15]^{[page needed]}

References

Notes

^ It is not a theory in the scientific or mathematical sense, but this is what the concept has been known as since its origin.

Footnotes

^ "Explaining Low Stamina Levels – with Spoons". BBC Online. 21 June 2013. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Band, Emily (24 September 2012). "How the Spoon Theory Helps Those Suffering Chronic Pain and Fatigue". The Guardian. London.
^ Henderson, Wendy (29 June 2017). "Explaining Chronic Illness: An Alternative to the Spoon Theory". Multiple Sclerosis News Today.
^ ^a ^b Miserandino, Christine (2003). "The Spoon Theory". But You Don't Look Sick. Archived from the original on 17 November 2019. Retrieved 5 July 2017.
^ Alhaboby et al. 2017, p. 6; Alhaboby et al. 2018, p. 177.
^ Hess, Amanda (4 March 2016). "The Social Media Cure: How People with Chronic Illnesses Use Memes, Selfies, and Emojis to Soothe Their Suffering". Slate. Retrieved 27 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b Gonzalez-Polledo 2016, p. 5.
^ Alhaboby et al. 2018, p. 177; Conrad 2017, p. 84.
^ Werber, Cassie (31 July 2017). "Spoons Have Become a Powerful Symbol of People's Invisible Pain". Quartz. Retrieved 28 November 2017.
^ Alhaboby et al. 2018, p. 177.
^ Hale, Catherine (2018). "Reclaiming 'Chronic Illness" (PDF). Centre for Welfare Reform. p. 28. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
^ Pashby, Kate (2018). ""Today is a Four": How Students Talk About their Chronic Pain". Journal for Undergraduate Ethnography. 8 (1): 69–83. doi:10.15273/jue.v8i1.8621. ISSN 2369-8721.
^ Chainey, Naomi (13 January 2016). "Stop appropriating the language that explains my condition". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
^ Lashley 2003.
^ Brune & Wilson 2013.

Bibliography

Alhaboby, Zhraa A.; Barnes, James; Evans, Hala; Short, Emma (2017). "Challenges Facing Online Research: Experiences from Research Concerning Cyber-Victimisation of People with Disabilities". Cyberpsychology: Journal of Psychosocial Research on Cyberspace. 11 (1). Art. 8. doi:10.5817/CP2017-1-8. ISSN 1802-7962. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

——— (2018). "Disability and Cyber-Victimization". In Schatz, J. L.; George, Amber E. (eds.). The Image of Disability: Essays on Media Representations. Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. pp. 167ff. ISBN 978-1-4766-6945-8.

Brune, Jeffrey A.; Wilson, Daniel J. (2013). Disability and Passing: Blurring the Lines of Identity. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-4399-0979-9. JSTOR j.ctt14bt3q0. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Conrad, Sarah (2017). "Consider the Spoons: An Embodied Relational Approach to Incorporating Those with Persistent Fatigue into Eco-Activism". In Nocella, Anthony J.; George, Amber E.; Schatz, J. L. (eds.). The Intersectionality of Critical Animal, Disability, and Environmental Studies: Toward Eco-Ability, Justice, and Liberation. Lanham, Maryland: Lexington Books. pp. 79–97. ISBN 978-1-4985-3443-7. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Gonzalez-Polledo, Elena (2016). "Chronic Media Worlds: Social Media and the Problem of Pain Communication on Tumblr". Social Media + Society. 2 (1): 205630511662888. doi:10.1177/2056305116628887. ISSN 2056-3051. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)

Lashley, Felissa R. (2003). "A Review of Sleep in Selected Immune and Autoimmune Disorders" (PDF). Holistic Nursing Practice. 17 (2): 65–80. doi:10.1097/00004650-200303000-00002. ISSN 1550-5138. PMID 12701994. Retrieved 27 January 2016. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)