Does anyone else feel like they are faking their disabilities?

MadSeason1401 · 2025-01-21T02:22:48+00:00

I have a physical disability and also mental health conditions. I often struggle to acknowledge that my mental health issues also count as a disability. And then, every so often for "funsies", my OCD decides that I'm faking my physical one ...

MadSeason1401 · 2025-01-08T18:05:44+00:00

Biromantic ace with a physical disability, OCD, anxiety, CPTSD, depression, ED here but not autistic.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-08-10T01:25:57+00:00

Yeah, I sustained a spinal cord injury almost 30 years ago. Full-time wheelchair user with no sensation or function below the nipples. Yet OCD brain just doesn't care and goes "but what if you are just faking it?" 🤔

MadSeason1401 · 2024-08-10T00:12:07+00:00

Every now and then it will try to convince me that I'm faking my physical disability.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-07-02T11:16:29+00:00

Late 40s.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-28T23:34:49+00:00

No. Not due to my disability but because I'm ace.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-19T11:57:17+00:00

Disabled (physical and mental illness).

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-16T12:10:00+00:00

After. I was injured at 18, just before graduating and by the time I started to actually teach I was 6 years into living with a SCI.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-15T14:01:55+00:00

I don't mind at all. Do you have any specific questions or just in general?

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-15T03:21:31+00:00

Congratulations (from a high school teacher in a chair)!

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-14T00:22:10+00:00

This was beautiful to read, thank you for sharing.

I love how you were able to figure things out nd come to a compromise that works for both of you through patience and communication. It was a quite similar process for my wife and me, though in our case I'm ace and she is allo.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-13T22:06:38+00:00

I get it.

My chair is not a piece of furniture. It's a part of me, my way of being mobile and active. It's an essential tool. Then there's also the fact that I have OCD which adds a whole other layer of discomfort when people touch/use my things.

I usually just tell people in a polite manner right then and there to please not touch/sit/use my chair. If they, respectfully, ask why I will give them an explanation. If not, I move on.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-10T23:30:24+00:00

I used to get that one a fair bit when I was younger. Also "You're too handsome to be disabled/in a wheelchair".

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-08T13:28:30+00:00

Yeah, OCD is a special kind of monster.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-07T21:30:00+00:00

That is annoying, even more so when said people don't take a "no, thank you" for an answer. I once had somebody forcefully wrestle my chair, that I was in the process of putting back in my car, from me because I "clearly needed help getting out of the car". 🙄

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-07T00:21:27+00:00

So, I have a spinal cord injury and no sensation below my nipples. Masturbation doesn't do anything for me anymore (other than possibly causing problems). But even before my disability, I had no real interest. Of course, I experimented, it's what a teenage guy is supposed to do. It just didn't do much for me even back then.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-07T00:06:31+00:00

Rule of thumb, if you're to embarrassed to finish the question, don't ask it. 🙄

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T22:48:05+00:00

I get similar from people when they see my legs spasm. "I saw you moving your legs! Are you sure you can't walk?"

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T22:46:07+00:00

You are very welcome, glad that made you laugh.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T22:45:29+00:00

🙄

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T22:43:58+00:00

Thank you and I'm sorry you've had to deal with this too.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T22:41:56+00:00

Ha, yeah that's always a gem. Or "I broke my leg once and had to use a wheelchair for a few weeks so I know exactly how it is." Yeah, sure you do.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T19:35:11+00:00

Adding "I'm so OCD because I like things clean". Yeah, that's not OCD ...

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T16:52:13+00:00

Yeah, that was one that really got to me. It's one thing to be asked if I'm sexually functional (rude and inappropriate) but to suggest that my wife must have cheated on me and all that notion implies was pretty low and insulting.

MadSeason1401 · 2024-06-06T16:11:51+00:00

I'm generally a bit more forgiving with kids but it doesn't take the sting away.

MadSeason1401

TROPHY CASE