By Laia Meseguer, NEWS3 Reporter
MACOMB, Illinois (NEWS3)- According to the World Health Organization, approximately up to six percent of the world’s population suffers from Fibromyalgia, an invisible and painful chronic condition.
Megan Maroney is an example of the few people who suffer from the illness. Music has been a part of her life practically since she was born, and now she studies Music therapy at WIU.
“Music for me is like kind of my escape from stress or just like becoming an adult for the first time; it’s so scary and overwhelming and music is kind of my healing, my grounding place to kind of escape from all that stress,” Maroney said.
Fibromyalgia is a chronic disorder characterized by widespread body pain, fatigue, and tenderness in localized areas. Sadly, Megan suffers from all of the symptoms. The condition causes fatigue and psychological conditions due to other symptoms.
“Before it was really difficult because I was in pain and tired all the time. My parents just thought I was depressed because I was sleeping all day and that wasn’t the truth. I did actually have something wrong with me. I was kind of relieved when I found out because I was like there is actually a reason for the way that I am feeling and I am not just lazy which is what a lot of people used to think so it has been really helpful for me to give a name to it,” Maroney said.
Music degrees require discipline and a lot of hours of dedication to the classes and the instruments. This is hard for everyone, but it can be even harder for a Fibromyalgia patient.
Megan is especially thankful to her advisor and professor Emily Sevcik. Sevcik is an Assistant Professor in Music therapy at WIU.
“She is an amazing person to work with and she is so talented in what she does and it’s been great to watch her growth,” Sevcik said when asked about Maroney.
Sevcik believes that it is vital to ask for help and always be communicative with any kind of difficulty.
