Nobody ever wants to accuse anyone of faking an illness, especially if that someone is your partner. Sometimes, though, the evidence just seems to mount up. One Reddit user took to the r/AmITheAsshole subreddit to determine if he was out of line for suspecting his girlfriend might not be being as honest about a medical condition as she should be, and people have a lot to say about it.
Man Asks If He's Wrong For Thinking His Girlfriend Might Be Faking A Chronic Health Condition
Unsplash | Ivan Aleksic
The post begins by explaining that the user's girlfriend suffers from a chronic pain condition.
Unsplash | Klara Kulikova
"Jenny suffers from a condition called fibromyalgia," he explains. "It is a really complicated condition that even doctors do not understand all that well, but from what I've researched as a layman, it is a generalized pain condition. It makes it hard for Jenny to hold down a job, but I legitimately used to believe that she at least tried."
Trending
"I know I'm already going to sound like an asshole with this, but I believe at this point, Jenny is milking it," he writes.
Giphy | Nickelodeon
"It isn't that she isn't able to work, or she isn't able to do the dishes most days. It's often about what she is able to do. For example, before the weekend, Jenny had a job interview for a position that was a really great opportunity," he continues. "Jenny ended up canceling because of a fibromyalgia flare-up. Two hours later, she went out to lunch with her friends, in a perfectly fine mood."
The user explained that this behavior went on. "When she got home, I asked if she could wash the dishes she left in the sink. She said her fibromyalgia was flaring up again and she needed to lay down. I washed a mountain of dishes by myself."
Must Read
He writes that later, "I asked how she was feeling and she said she was fine after resting."
Giphy | Laff
"I then pointed out that her fibromyalgia sure seems to calm down before things she wants to do, and then flare up again before things she doesn't want to do. Jenny stood up without a word, walked to the bedroom, and locked the door," he writes, concluding by asking if he's the asshole in the situation for implying that she may be faking or playing up her condition to avoid doing things she doesn't want to do.
People in the comments had a lot to say.
Unsplash | Anthony Tran
"I’m glad you have been patient in trying to understand her disability as everyone’s pain threshold is different, but I can tell you with certainty it doesn’t magically disappear when you want to do something fun. She would be missing out on things that interest her too," wrote one Reddit user who also suffers from the same condition.
Users who felt that even if Jenny wasn't faking it, she wasn't being attentive to her partner. One user added, "If OP's girlfriend is only ever budgeting her spoons on fun things she wants to do and never allocating them towards things that help her partner (like dishes), then she just isn't being a very good partner."
What do you think? Let us know in the comments!
