Perception & Approach

I'm going to write about something that's a bit sensitive and that I suddenly realized is very hard to explain and therefore can easily be misunderstood, but I'll try anyways....

The risk of talking and writing about illness is that people perceive one as being whiny and grumpy, as someone who only complains not only on their symptoms, but on society as a whole when it comes to how chronically ill and disabled people are treated. Some may even express high demands on how to be treated or approached by their trouble free fellows.

One speaks to, and simply treats people equally derogatory, in other words, exactly the way you don't want to be treated or spoken to yourself, which makes you appear as a true hypocrite.

I can sometimes perceive it the same way when I read certain blogs and comments on social media. Some chronics and people with disabilities sometimes have a tone that, in principle, requires a special behaviour from healthy people and, as such, admonishes and reprimands them. They always have an angry and confrontational tone that I don't think helps their purpose very much, it rather has the opposite effect.

As a sick person, you constantly have to fight things apart from your health. It can be anything from health care and rehabilitation, the Social Insurance Agency, finances, the environmental incomprehension and ignorance to things like badly adapted premises, complicated passages and idiotic “burglary-proof” packaging’s.

But one can't demand that others should be able to fully understand the situation of an individual with everything it entails. We all have our own unique life situation and specific experience of our illness. On the other hand, one would wish for some general understanding and consideration and this is best achieved by spreading information and knowledge in a kind and neutral way.

Certainly, it is allowed to whine a little from time to time, and to ventilate your feelings in blog form is actually quite therapeutic. It's also up to each and every one to read. But with the tactic of always see yourself as a victim and having a constantly accusing tone, you will probably never get the result you are looking for, namely knowledge, understanding and consideration.

xoxo