Sometimes I feel like we need to talk more about medical trauma and less about internalized ableism.

Like we definitely need to talk about internalized ableism, but it doesn& #39;t develop in a vacuum.

My brain does not have the words to explain this right now sooooooo hold tight?

If somebody is un/newly/partially dx& #39;ed and they say "I& #39;m not disabled," consider that this might be a trauma response and not a rejection of disabled identity.

What& #39;s left unsaid is "because if I WERE disabled then I& #39;d need to reckon with YEARS of gaslighting & mistreatment."

There is so much important messaging that disabled isn& #39;t a bad word, but in some contexts this message TOTALLY misses the point.

A lot of folks don& #39;t identify as disabled specifically because trauma gremlins are constantly whispering in their brain that their illness isn& #39;t real.

Sometimes I see whispers of the idea that chronically ill people who don& #39;t ID as disabled need to get over their internalized ableism or something.

And this is incredibly alienating, because it can leave you with the impression that "real disabled people" don& #39;t live with doubt.

So if you& #39;re chronically ill and you don& #39;t ID as disabled because you& #39;re not sure if you& #39;re sick enough and you don& #39;t want to take up space, I want you to know that:

1. this is so common and it& #39;s ok and it doesn& #39;t inherently make you Part Of The Problem

2. you are sick enough

And I also just want everyone to know that a whole lot of chronically ill people go through phases where they worry they& #39;ve been fabricating the whole thing.

This is not a niche problem. It& #39;s a common way to experience disability. https://twitter.com/bennessb/status/1223256210243190784?s=19">https://twitter.com/bennessb/...

also if you& #39;re reading this thread like "who tf is this lady and why does she have such strong opinions about the impacts of life without a diagnosis?" may I direct you to my actual TEDx talk?

[Full transcript in reply to quoted tweet] https://twitter.com/bennessb/status/1304127702681690113?s=19">https://twitter.com/bennessb/...