Disability Discourse: The silver linings of being disabled.

[@FirienStar]

I find that adaptable nature starts spewing over into your attitude in life too. I'm forever making situations better for me regardless of the place, given that we are always working on reinventing our lives and movements.

[@FirienStar]

You do tend to appreciate things more- trips out, spending time with family/friends. I can still be pretty hard on myself/my limits but it has gotten easier.

[@FirienStar]

Very interesting video, some I guessed like empathy, guessing by appearances, and understanding of complexities . Medical knowledge you pick up can be so random, I know I surprised a doctor by asking about possible 'contraindications' of a medication.

[@FirienStar]

Sorry about the comment bombing I was worried I would forget (brain fog). I managed to go hiking two days ago and I'm still astonished with myself. It might take a week to recover but it was so worth it.

[@FirienStar]

Super high pain tolerance makes for a reasonably comfortable tattoo sessions!

[@AstroVee]

Totally true! All five of my tattoos are in fairly notoriously painful spots and didn't bother me at all. Yay chronic pain! :p

[@badgerinabluedress4866]

The high pain tolerance is definitely useful. I lost all my friends too, but I never really made any new ones because I decided not to tell people I was chronically ill and keep them all at a distance. Probably not healthy, but I was a kid and it all just hurt too much.

[@AstroVee]

I'm so sorry you went through that. I can completely understand it being too traumatic to get close to people again - I definitely had that stage as well, but I was fortunate enough to meet some really amazing people who showed me that it could be okay to be close to people again. It just sucks how little empathy people can have. I thought it would be different when I was older, but it's the same. There are amazing people who really do get it (mainly those who are either in medical fields or have health issues themselves), and then there's...well, most other people who not only don't understand but seem to not want to understand. ):

[@reshijeshi2124]

I'll be your friend sweetie! 😊

[@FirienStar]

My problem was I wasn't properly diagnosed for over 10 years (Ehlers Danlos syndrome) so I think I lost people because they thought I was exaggerating/faking how I was. Even some doctors brushed me off too, so now I get terrible anxiety going to see new medical people and fear they will ridicule me/call me crazy.

[@AstroVee]

Ugh, I can only imagine how awful that must have been, I am so sorry. I was really lucky with my medical experience - diagnosed almost immediately, and only had one really negative experience with a medical professional. I did have a lot of really bad social experiences with regards to being accused of "faking" though, which has left me pretty untrusting and is why almost all my friends are either also disabled or in medical fields. It sucks, but I am also super grateful for the people I have met and kept around.

[@Source88990]

Regenerative detoxification is the key.