it’s been a while since I’ve been here but I saw this post (and am very late to it) but just wanted to also voice that I’m disabled for mental health reasons. I’ve always struggled with viewing my own personal state as being disabled. but when I look back on times where my anxiety made me so physically ill that I couldn’t go to work without having to find ways to hide it (or I had to call in a lot), I realize how hard it is for me to function like a “normal person.” which is the biggest thing I struggle with. my partner has to remind me that what I think is “normal” is a weird idealized version of something that doesn’t really exist. everyone has issues, I just happen to need more help than others.

I’m on quite the cocktail of medications for a variety of things. some are physical issues but there’s mental health stuff there too. without them I really can’t function, and as it is I need help from the person I live with sometimes to do everyday things. I’ve been getting better, but it’s been a long road.

what I’m saying is, you’re absolutely not alone. I’m one of the many people here with you.

We are the ones with ‘invisible illnesses’. They are every bit as real as a physical disability, or other organs/body systems not working.

You don’t tell someone to ‘man up’ when they have diabetes, so why say it to someone who has a mood disorder?

I feel your pain! Sometimes I feel like I’m ‘unworthy’ of being helped. I try to remind myself that it’s not my fault my brain doesn’t work right, and there are tons of people out there who have no issue helping people like me, like us.

Without Olanzapine, I turn into a fucking wreck. I’m still not particularly capable with it, but I’m a LOT worse without it. I get panicky, depressed, etc. I can’t be without it.

I wasn’t aware you could even get disability for those.