Smile

People frequently say to me…”Smile… Things can’t be that bad.” I can be laughing on the inside, but it is like I forgot to tell my face. It makes me wonder how long I was experiencing symptoms prior to the official diagnosis, When I met with the movement specialist, she told me I had a clasic Parkinson’s mask.

The following paragraphs are excerpts from tomorrow’s post on Perception,

“In addition to PWP (person with parkinson’s) misperceiving themselves they are also not perceived properly by others. This has not been properly studied but the few papers published on this topic indicate that people, including health professionals, have a more negative impression of PWP they haven’t met based purely on their facial expression, viewing them as depressed, angry, less socially involved, less interested and less pleasant based on how “masked” their facial expression is. These impressions were completely unrelated to what the PWP actually was like. This unfortunate problem may underlie difficulties PWP experience relating to people who don’t know them. “

“…………This means that they have fewer spontaneous movements than other people, which is readily seen in the blink rate. PWP blink less than normal people, contributing to their facial “staring” expression. They also swallow less than others, which is why saliva pools in their mouths, leading to drooling. “

Describes me exactly. I’m pretty sure my body produces extra saliva… I feel like a drooling machine.