How Disability Misunderstandings And Stigma Impact Mental Well-Being

“He said, ‘well, some people just need to learn to live with what they've got’.” Chloe Valentine Toscano shares her story of disability, her fight for body autonomy, and its impact on her mental well-being.
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[@aellaaskew4263]

This!!! 😭😥This is my Battle for basic care, covid has made public spaces unsafe for me as immune compromised My doctors are constantly questioning my "somatic" "funtional" and psychological symptoms over my chronic illness realities that directly affect my physical well-being. I've self diagnosed but have formal diagnoses to back them all up now EDS, IIH, POTS, MCAD, dystonia and more. My medical PTSD actually is to blame for uncovering my childhood trauma as I was sent to psych first when I went to the doctor initially for pain from a spine injury I had an MRI for and had lost 1st upper body motor functions from then lower, regaining upper later on. To say I'm punished for my emotions is an understatement. One doctor wrote my issue was that I was "a woman" must be hysterical 🙄😮‍💨. To be showing up as a single woman with no partner to support you and go to procedures and appointments, no family to take care of me and due to the pandemic I'm now housing insecure. So battling the medical system alone but now through medicaid and Social safety nets its unforgiving. I feel unwanted, unwelcome and medically neglected. The countries historic past of disabled euthanasia has not been far from my mind these past quarantined years, I saw a trauma therepist about all this. Rolling in on my wheelchair preparing to process the hardstuff, I was denied by the Trauma Center due to my perpetuating medical trauma told I was- I quote "too traumatized for their center" that I must do a skills class with chronic pain patients- I argue NOT (necessarily) the same as disabled- also NOT what I needed. I HAVE PLEANTY of CBT/DBT skills I needed a therepist. I wish so badly I could find a disabled therepist who understands all the medical gaslighting , how very little bodily autonomy I feel I have, How little Independence and comfort I have left in the world. The world has no care to acknowledge abilism until they are the ones being affected by it. Once capitalism settled in so did the compassion vacuum that replaced it with vile blinding self absorption and individualism, for the system to exist so too must be the exploited.