Guilt and the Perpetual Patient (or: You're Doing It Wrong - Always)

[moominmuppet]

I just said this over on FB, and it got me ranting in my head on the topic again:

Just talked to hr again, trying to navigate this whole fmla, ada, short term disability, don't even know mess. Feel so helpless when I can't manage to get a straight answer on anything. Call back tomorrow, talk to your doc about that, no don't bother requesting a

Comments

[luscious_words]

IMO, our "healthcare" system does nothing to alleviate that guilt, either. Not only are you under scrutiny by your workplace but you get put under the microscope by doctors and other healthcare providers until you feel like you can't move or breathe without someone knowing it.

I think it's also made worse when your disability is not something someone can "see." I believe others tend to be more judgmental of those disabilities than one you can't ignore because it's right there in front of you. And even those who have the visible disabilities have a difficult time getting their needs met. It's so frustrating to see people I know struggle with these things, when they should not have to. In a perfect world, none of this would occur. Sadly, we live in an incredibly imperfect world.

[moominmuppet]

So much truth in all of this! Yeah, navigating the issues around invisibility disabilities; the benefits of being able to closet, the detriments of being taken less seriously, it's all fuckered.

[luscious_words]

Yep, and it makes people who truly need the assistance less inclined to seek it.

[moominmuppet]

*nod* Yup, very true. As does treating people who need help as "parasites on society" which is something that's getting aired about quite a bit, it being an election year against Republicans that Republicans-of-20-years-ago wouldn't even recognize. Fighting the effects of the nasty little tendrils, disentangling them from my brain, it's a full-time job.

[luscious_words]

It just have to say that the HATE being slung round by the R side of the aisle is making me want to hurl. It further makes one needing assistance that much less inclined to ask. Are there people who abuse the system? Yes, of course. Is everyone who asks for assistance doing so with the intent to abuse the system? Hell NO! It is very difficult to keep from those tendrils disentangled when your nose is being rubbed in that shit all the time.