Why does poverty keep making me sick and how do I break that cycle?

Poverty and illness feed each other. You miss work when you're sick, lose income, can't afford prevention, get sicker. I've watched this pattern destroy people's capacity to even think clearly—and thinking clearly is how we act. This isn't moral weakness. It's the rational consequence of scarcity. Your body under chronic stress, without proper nutrition or rest, will deteriorate. Your mind follows. Here's what's important: understand that breaking this cycle isn't something you do alone through willpower. You need material change—access to healthcare, stable income, safe conditions. But while you're navigating that, refuse the lie that your illness is your failure. It's a structural condition. That distinction matters because shame prevents action, while clarity enables it. Document your patterns if you can: when you're sickest, what costs spike. Use that information to negotiate—with employers, with creditors, with yourself about priorities. Seek community health programs, mutual aid networks. Your recovery depends partly on material resources you may have to fight to access. That fight is rational. That fight is dignity.