But You Look So Good

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If you need any support after listening to our podcast, you can contact Lifeline in Australia at 13 11 14, available 24/7. For support in other locations, please visit⁠ ⁠Befrienders Worldwide⁠⁠.

Putting the Chronic in Chronic Illness: How to cope with knowing it will never get better Jun 01, 2026

Show notes

In our 100th episode of But You Look So Good, we reflect on the journey of creating this podcast as two psychologists living with MS — what we’ve learned, what has surprised us, and the incredible community that has formed around honest conversations about chronic illness.

We then dive into one of the hardest realities many people face: the difference between acute illness and chronic illness. Society teaches us to expect recovery, but what happens when symptoms don’t go away? How do we psychologically adjust to uncertainty, loss, identity changes, and the grief of realising life may not “go back to normal”?

In this episode, we explore the major psychological challenges that emerge in chronic illness and share three practical coping strategies to help people “deal with the chronic” — including acceptance, grief, and building flexible hope.

https://www.instagram.com/therobynreynolds/

An Interview with Robyn: Turning Crohn’s Disease Into Comedy May 28, 2026

Show notes

Today's guest is Robyn, an award-winning comedian and writer who lives with Crohn's disease, a condition that affects millions of people worldwide, yet remains so often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and for many, carries a huge amount of shame. Because let's be honest, we're talking about symptoms that people often feel embarrassed to speak about, let alone joke about on stage. But Robyn has found a way to take something deeply personal, messy, frustrating, and at times incredibly isolating, and turn it into something honest, hilarious, and deeply human.

Fresh off the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and not a stranger to bringing her experience with Crohn's disease to the stage, Robyn joins us to talk about her diagnosis journey, navigating the medical system with a chronic illness, the reality of living with a body that doesn't always cooperate, and how she went from feeling embarrassed by her symptoms to making them part of her art. This is such a funny, real, and important conversation, and exactly the kind of one we love having here.

Dynamic disability: when capacity constantly changes May 25, 2026

Show notes

Some days you can function. Some days you can’t. Some days you make plans, show up, laugh, work, parent, and feel almost like yourself. Other days, getting out of bed feels impossible.

For many people living with chronic illness or disability, symptoms aren’t static. Capacity can shift hour to hour, day to day, week to week. Pain, fatigue, mobility, cognition, vision, strength, dizziness, function. It can all change. And while that unpredictability can be physically exhausting, the psychological toll is often just as significant.

In this episode, we unpack the reality of dynamic disability and fluctuating chronic health conditions, including the anxiety of never knowing what version of your body you’ll wake up in, the fear that a bad flare might become the new normal, and why planning anything can feel incredibly vulnerable when your capacity is unpredictable.

We also explore the invisible grief of losing trust in your body, the frustration of being misunderstood because you looked “fine” yesterday, and practical psychological strategies for navigating uncertainty when certainty simply isn’t available.

If you’ve ever found yourself asking, Can I commit? What if I cancel? What if this gets worse? What if this never improves? — this episode is for you.

Livology (Psychology - Private Practice)⁠⁠⁠

An Interview with Fiona: Transplant Recipient, Triathlons, Tenacity May 21, 2026

Show notes

Today you are hearing from Fiona, a woman from Ireland whose life has been shaped by an extraordinary journey through chronic illness, resilience, and reinvention. Fiona was diagnosed with a kidney disease while pregnant in 2009, a diagnosis that came completely out of nowhere. For the next seven years, she managed a progressive debilitating condition while raising three young children, navigating crushing fatigue, a shrinking social circle, and the invisible weight of looking well while feeling anything but. In 2017, thanks to the remarkable generosity of a close friend who turned out to be a near perfect match,

Fiona received her first kidney transplant. What followed was a stunning period of renewal. She learnt to swim, took up triathlon, became a qualified triathlon coach, and was on the verge of competing in a half Ironman when her body stopped her in her tracks. By 2024, Fiona's transplant had run its course. She's now on hemodialysis, navigating a second wait for a transplant and doing it, as you'll hear, with honesty, humor, and a hard-won perspective on what it means to live fully inside a body that doesn't always cooperate. This is a conversation about chronic illness, about the friends you lose and the ones who show up, about parenting through pain, about identity and athleticism, and about what happens to your sense of self when your body just keeps changing the rules.

Today’s episode is proudly brought to you by Book Dialysis - With a network of 950+ dialysis clinics and hospitals in 60+ countries, you can now easily and safely book your treatment, anywhere in the world. www.bookdialysis.com

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“Stop Using Your Condition as an Excuse” (and Other Helpful Judgements) May 18, 2026

Show notes

What happens when the hardest part of living with a chronic illness isn’t just the symptoms — but the judgement?

In this episode of But You Look So Good, Sally and Seona unpack the comments so many people with chronic health conditions hear: “It’s all in your head,” “Maybe if you exercised more,” “You’re a hypochondriac,” and “Stop using your condition as an excuse.”

They explore the psychological impact of disbelief, invalidation and gaslighting, and why these comments can create shame, self-doubt and burnout. Drawing from both professional and lived experience, they discuss practical strategies for protecting your mental health, setting boundaries, and learning to trust yourself again — even when others don’t understand your reality.

⁠⁠⁠Livology (Psychology - Private Practice)⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

An Interview with Chris: From Nurse to Crime Writer After a 19-Year Diagnosis Journey May 14, 2026

Show notes

Our guest today is Chris, a former nurse of thirty-one years and now an award-winning crime writer who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis after what he describes as a torturous nineteen-year journey to answers. In this conversation, Chris takes us back to those first strange symptoms, the years of pushing through, continuing to work in healthcare, and the frustration of navigating a medical system that didn't always have the answers or believe what he was telling them.

Having spent decades as a nurse, Chris knew the healthcare system from the inside. Experiencing it as a patient was something else entirely. We also explore the pivot his life took from nursing into writing and how his lived experience of chronic illness found its way into crime fiction in a way few stories do. This is a thoughtful conversation about delayed diagnosis, identity, frustration, adapting to life with MS, and building a completely different chapter than the one you expected.

Links

MS: Get Your Head Around It! (Online Course)⁠⁠⁠

More about Chris

Instagram

Book: Sick to Death

Anxiety and Chronic Illness May 11, 2026

Show notes

Anxiety can feel very different when you live with a chronic illness. When your body has become unpredictable, your nervous system can begin to stay on high alert — scanning for symptoms, preparing for worst-case scenarios, and struggling to fully relax.

In this episode, we explore the relationship between chronic illness and anxiety through a psychological lens. We discuss hypervigilance, uncertainty, medical trauma, health anxiety, and why anxiety often makes sense in the context of living with an unpredictable body. We also share practical and compassionate strategies to help manage anxiety without minimising the very real experiences that can drive it.

Links