Joelle Palmieri and Virginie Jortay give a voice to people with fibromyalgia and their loved ones. Who can understand this word? Or even pronounce it? Is it a disease? Not really? It affects 2.4 million women in France, without anyone knowing. It manifests itself through multiple symptoms ranging from pain and fatigue to cognitive disorders. Joelle has been suffering from it for twenty years, maybe more. With Esther Salmona, Peggy Pinchart and Corinne Lepage, she attempts to name these symptoms along with the comorbidities they experience. Her guests talk about the difficulties of naming the loss of perception of one’s body, working, accepting changes in emotional relationships, coping with the stress of seeking money and time to alleviate symptoms, dealing with feelings such as anger, loneliness, fear of the passing of time, or overcoming apprehension about unusual requests. This is necessary because the language of the disease is non-verbal. Josiane Pinchart, sister and Peggy’s mother, David Eloy, a friend and brother of a patient, and Emmanuelle Piron, a friend, explain their distress: they don’t know what to do to help, they do their best, and they are even confronted with the terror that this disease inspires in them.

Copyright © Joelle Palmieri and Virginie Jortay

Credits:
Song ‘En moi’ by Doriane Assier
Song ‘J’ai pas les mots’ by Grand Corps Malade

Links: The Unsought Pain – Feminist autopsy of fibromyalgia, a ‘women’s disease’: https://joellepalmieri.org/2021/08/23/fibromyalgie-derriere-la-porte/

Featuring: Esther Salmona (author, artist, landscape designer), Peggy Pinchart (communications and marketing strategy consultant), Corinne Lepage (actress, community educator), David Eloy (journalist specialising in social and solidarity economy issues and international solidarity), Emmanuelle Piron (nursery gardener) and Josiane Pinchart (mathematics teacher).

Production team:
Writing, interviews and production: Joelle Palmieri
Editing and mixing: Virginie Jortay
Voice-over: Peggy Pierrot