Veganism and Chronic Illness: a reflection
How do you handle having a chronic illness that needs treatment with medications that have been tested on animals given you are against animal testing and torturing and killing animals for the sake of "science"?
I find myself wondering this all the time. I have had type one diabetes since the age of 12 and the discovery of insulin involved the unneccessary use of dogs, plus until recently when they started producing insulin synthetically, pig insulin was used. Without getting into the details, I feel guilty all the time for those who suffered and died so that I could live. Many, many didn't have to suffer and die in order for these discoveries to be made (see Dr. Ray Greek's writings on this). I could go through the statistics, but there are many great sources out there that list them and I will assume if you are reading this you probably are already aware that jumping from mice to humans isn't a good predictor for anything:
What I want to talk about here is the emotional impact - the guilt, the shame - that can come with needing to treat your chronic illness using medications and knowledge that came from brutal animal exploitation. Someone could choose not to use the medications that have the trail of dead animal bodies behind them, but then we end up suffering more ourselves. I have to take insulin or I will die. Same with my mood disorder that leaves me suicidal when not treated properly with medication (along with therapy). If I don't treat my chronic pain from fibromyalgia, I won't be able to do much of anything (functioning wise), let alone advocate for better scientific methods that do not involve the exploitation of non-human animal bodies.
What I find myself left with is treating my illnesses as best I can so that I am in a better position to be able to do activist work to create change in the world. I dream of the day when I don't have to participate in the exploitation of animals for my health. I feel so bad about this situation. I feel ashamed. My life is not worth more than those animal lives. I fully believe this with all my heart. So what do I do to deal with this guilt and shame?
I think we need to, as a community, talk about these feelings and acknowledge them. We are not at fault for being sick and needing help to survive. That said, our emotions are real and valid and talking about them is important. We are not alone, as I'm sure many vegans deal with this issue all the time. Many have the choice not to take antibiotics or medications for mild issues and they don't. But some of us are not that lucky and we find ourselves having no real choice but to take the medications to treat our illnesses - for the time being, anyways.
The next big piece is activism. Education on what is actually going on in the labs and what the better alternatives are and then spreading that knowledge as far and wide as possible. Talking to students who are going to be doing science. Advocating for humane education so that the ethically-minded students who will become the ethically-minded scientists of tomorrow get through school instead of being weeded out. Support those students and enable them to use alternative teaching tools. Support ethical scientists (they are out there) and bring awareness of their work to the world. There are new exciting technologies being developed as I type this that will replace animal bodies in research.
That is what gives me hope. So when I feel down, I grasp this hope and hold onto it with all I have. I have been dealt this hand in life and need to make the best of it. I cannot let the grief overcome me, or I will not be able to be the advocate I need to be. As a community of animal activists, we need to realize there are those of us who cannot help but participate in animal exploitation and we need help to make change in the area of animal testing and research.
What are your thoughts on this issue? How do you deal with needing to treat your chronic illness and being vegan?
I find myself wondering this all the time. I have had type one diabetes since the age of 12 and the discovery of insulin involved the unneccessary use of dogs, plus until recently when they started producing insulin synthetically, pig insulin was used. Without getting into the details, I feel guilty all the time for those who suffered and died so that I could live. Many, many didn't have to suffer and die in order for these discoveries to be made (see Dr. Ray Greek's writings on this). I could go through the statistics, but there are many great sources out there that list them and I will assume if you are reading this you probably are already aware that jumping from mice to humans isn't a good predictor for anything:
What I want to talk about here is the emotional impact - the guilt, the shame - that can come with needing to treat your chronic illness using medications and knowledge that came from brutal animal exploitation. Someone could choose not to use the medications that have the trail of dead animal bodies behind them, but then we end up suffering more ourselves. I have to take insulin or I will die. Same with my mood disorder that leaves me suicidal when not treated properly with medication (along with therapy). If I don't treat my chronic pain from fibromyalgia, I won't be able to do much of anything (functioning wise), let alone advocate for better scientific methods that do not involve the exploitation of non-human animal bodies.
What I find myself left with is treating my illnesses as best I can so that I am in a better position to be able to do activist work to create change in the world. I dream of the day when I don't have to participate in the exploitation of animals for my health. I feel so bad about this situation. I feel ashamed. My life is not worth more than those animal lives. I fully believe this with all my heart. So what do I do to deal with this guilt and shame?
I think we need to, as a community, talk about these feelings and acknowledge them. We are not at fault for being sick and needing help to survive. That said, our emotions are real and valid and talking about them is important. We are not alone, as I'm sure many vegans deal with this issue all the time. Many have the choice not to take antibiotics or medications for mild issues and they don't. But some of us are not that lucky and we find ourselves having no real choice but to take the medications to treat our illnesses - for the time being, anyways.
The next big piece is activism. Education on what is actually going on in the labs and what the better alternatives are and then spreading that knowledge as far and wide as possible. Talking to students who are going to be doing science. Advocating for humane education so that the ethically-minded students who will become the ethically-minded scientists of tomorrow get through school instead of being weeded out. Support those students and enable them to use alternative teaching tools. Support ethical scientists (they are out there) and bring awareness of their work to the world. There are new exciting technologies being developed as I type this that will replace animal bodies in research.
That is what gives me hope. So when I feel down, I grasp this hope and hold onto it with all I have. I have been dealt this hand in life and need to make the best of it. I cannot let the grief overcome me, or I will not be able to be the advocate I need to be. As a community of animal activists, we need to realize there are those of us who cannot help but participate in animal exploitation and we need help to make change in the area of animal testing and research.
What are your thoughts on this issue? How do you deal with needing to treat your chronic illness and being vegan?