Disabled People do not want Pity when they educate others about their disability
September 21st, 2015
Iria Vasquez-Paez
Whenever somebody talks about their disability, it is really rude to tell them they want pity. Most people with a disability or chronic illness actually do not want that. It is enough of a struggle to make it from one day to the next whether you have unipolar depression or bipolar depression. It is especially difficult with bipolar disorder because if you are unstable, mania makes you feel up. Depression will make you go right back down though. In high school, I was on no meds for any reason. I had pretty bad anxiety. Nobody gave me meds for that.
When people talk about their disability, it means they are trying to lighten their load. It is a burden to have a disability whether it is in control or not. In my case, I have type 1 diabetes. Back when I was unstable, controlling diabetes was a huge chore. It was tremendously difficult when I got depressed because my blood sugar would go up. 120 mg of Geodon, 10 of Lexapro and 15 of Buspar really does help. I keep going at my diabetes management because I’m on the right medication.
I’m determined to reverse diabetes. I want to maintain a fasting average of 90-129. I would like my blood sugars to be at 125 average. It is an interesting goal. I think about it night and day. It permeates my entire legion of thoughts. With my imagination, I imagine, I can control my blood sugars better. I practice yoga, tai chi, and martial arts. My interest these days is body building. I can see how much muscle I can build. My uncle said I had big guns so I think he noticed what I’m up to in terms of building muscle. I’m into low-impact sports except for martial arts. Martial arts is really intense. I maintain my local YMCA membership.
So you see, I have no time for self-pity. It is abusive to tell a disabled person they want pity. It’s as abusive as telling a non-Christian they are going to hell for not believing. I lost 40 pounds in a year at my local YMCA. I use My FitnessPal religiously. I learn a lot about calories consumed in a day. Eating takes but five minutes. You’d better make wise choices about what you eat in five minutes. Preparing food to eat doesn’t take that long either. I’m contemplating getting a Munchery.com account so I can have dinner delivered when I’m too busy to cook.
Disabled or chronically ill people are only seen out and about on good days. A good day doesn’t involve the use of too many spoons. You only have so much energy. Some chronically ill people have trouble getting out of bed because of pain like in the case of fibromyalgia where someone’s whole body can hurt. Now those people suffer way more than I do with type 1 diabetes, hypothyroidism and schizoaffective bipolar 1. My meds are great. I’m doing great. Heck when I catch myself saying my life is hell, I rethink it by saying hold on, I have an insulin pump, I have thyroid pills I take every morning and most importantly I have meds. My life is great. Who am I to think my life is hell? I have a California driver’s license for one. I’m a great driver for another. Yes, my life is good. Very good. I have nothing to complain about.
iriavp 