myillnessisinvisible

[myillnessisinvisible]

do you want to be a part of the chronic illness video project I am doing? Check out the tab on my blog about it.

[myillnessisinvisible]

interested in being a part of a video that will help chronic illness movement? Check out the post/tab about it on my blog.

[myillnessisinvisible]

hi there! i'm a disabled chronically and mentally ill college student, and i run an etsy shop as my primary means of income. i was hoping you'd be able to signal boost my new chronic illness/spoonie piece (post 119874730364 on my blog) or my fundraising post (post 117835214569 ). i understand if you can't, but i'd really appreciate the support!

posting :) sorry it’s late

[myillnessisinvisible]

You’re not unreliable - your health is.

shout out to all my chronically ill people who get shit for being late, for cancelling, because their health prevents them, and feel like jerks because of it. It’s not your fault. (via sickfacemcgee)

[myillnessisinvisible]

The thing about having a chronic illness is that when I say I’m having a bad day and can’t do anything, people want to know why, they want to know the symptoms, and sometimes it isn’t anything, sometimes I just don’t feel good, sometimes it’s a lifetime of symptoms leaving leftovers behind like crumbs in a toaster, and nothing is wrong exactly, but I still don’t feel good and have to spend the day in bed and try to figure out where my spoons went.

[myillnessisinvisible]

Why are all queer events on at like 10 at night? Some of us queers can’t stay out that late? Can’t we have a gay afternoon tea? Lesbian lunch? Bisexual breakfast?

[myillnessisinvisible]

I have this weird relationship with my chronic illness where I spend 75% of my time trying to pretend it doesn’t exist and the other 25% trying to explain that it DOES exist to a bunch of people who don’t believe me.

[myillnessisinvisible]

More facts

[myillnessisinvisible]

I wear glasses.  Can I manage without glasses?  Well, yes, probably.  I could squint a lot, constantly move up close to anything I want to see, take the bus or a taxi if I want to go anywhere.  I could just accept that I’ll never be able to see eagles flying in the sky or whales jumping out of the ocean.   But why?  Why try so hard to manage life when I could just put on a pair of glasses?  No one would ever suggest a near-sighted person should just work harder.  No one would say ‘Maybe that’s just your normal’ to someone that needs glasses.  They would say ‘Let’s go to the eye doctor and get you a prescription so you’re able to see again.’ You shouldn’t have to try so hard.

My doctor (paraphrased), when I expressed doubts about going back on an anti-depressant.  (via

webreakthenwebuild

(via squidilydink)

This is such a good analogy because nobody thinks about it like this.  If you wear glasses, you literally need constant use of a medical aid to experience the world like most people do.  If it were anything besides glasses, that would be considered a disability.  But needing glasses is an extremely common, visible, and accepted form of disability to the point that we don’t even consider it one, we just accept that some people need glasses and that’s perfectly normal and there’s nothing wrong with needing to rely on them.

That is how all disabilities and illnesses should be seen, and how we should look at treatment for them.  You have a problem, and you need help dealing with it, and there’s nothing wrong with either of those things.  That’s perfectly normal and that’s okay.

(via ninjarobotclone)

Reblogging myself bc ^^that^^ was such a beautiful addition.  ~JJ

(via teachthemhowtothink)

Yes. This.

(via livhathaway)

[myillnessisinvisible]

it is ok to mourn the life your disability didn’t allow you to have. it is ok grieve for the experiences you will never get. it doesn’t make you a bad anti-ableist. i promise

[myillnessisinvisible]

best fucking sign on the metro today:

Who needs this seat? You’d be surprised.

Not all disabilities are visible. That’s why it’s important to keep priority seating clear at all times. For more information on accessibility throughout the Metro system, visit www.wmata.com/accessibility

[myillnessisinvisible]

Ableism is not just slurs or even mostly slurs

[myillnessisinvisible]

[myillnessisinvisible]

warning for anyone with a panic disorder or aversion to loud or startling noises

people may not warn you of this but if you ever get an MRI, there are a lot of very loud and sudden sounds that accompany it.

you can listen to a quieter version of them here so you can know in advance what it will be like

please spread this around, nobody told me about it ahead of time and it was not a good experience.

[myillnessisinvisible]

how to love yourself:

buy the expensive body wash your mom would never let you have

use a coloring book

watch ten episodes of a show you’ve never seen

go through your phone. delete the people you haven’t spoken to in years.

pick the petals off of a flower 

tell your best friend you love him/her

put a picture of baby you on your mirror 

you’re gonna be okay

i love you

[myillnessisinvisible]

recovery-and-happiness:

[myillnessisinvisible]

Body acceptance is often more complex than just “loving your body.” It’s become really easy for healthy people (especially “body positive” feminists) to say “Love your body!” and leave it at that, but as anyone with a chronic illness will tell you, it can be downright difficult to love a body that makes you sick or actively causes you pain. Loving your body is a great goal, and while it’s great to see more women striving for it, such rhetoric often leaves people—and women—with disabilities, chronic illnesses and pain out because our bodies are already portrayed as not “normal” or beautiful enough to be worth loving, or even accepting! Loving your body on days when it confines you to bed seems counter-intuitive, and for some folks with chronic pain, it’s just not going to happen. By contrast, body acceptance can be a process of meeting your body where it is, and striving to be okay with a chronically ill body—even on bad days.

Anna Hamilton, “Six Things I’ve Learned From Dealing with Chronic Pain”  (via healmycrocodileskin)