Wishing you had a physical INSTEAD OF a mental illness?

[Dataunit]

Does anyone here wish they had a physical illness instead of mental health problems? Not in a self-harm "I wish I was sick" way, but in an "at least I'd get some help, and wouldn't be blamed for my illness" sense. I have autism and chronic insomnia and, mostly due to (ableist and homophobic) school bullying, did have depression and derealisation disorder in the past, which led to self-harming behaviours. This led to further abuse from adult 'caregivers' who implied that I could "snap out" of those illnesses, and that I was "bringing it on myself". Although I'd rather not be sick at all, I used to wish that, if I had to be, then I'd prefer a physical illness like epilepsy (which my sister - otherwise normal - suffers from). At least then no one would've yelled at me for being ill, nor discouraged other children from befriending me, or any of the other ableist abuse I got.

[Dataunit]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iamcatbug

As someone who has both physical and mental disabilities I can confirm that the grass is really not greener on the other side. A lot of physical disabilities are invisible like mental illness and you can often get just as much abuse for it.

I'm sorry to hear that people have been abusing you too

[Koriandr]

I know of someone who has schizophrenia, and she said her psychiatrist told her, "You'd be better off with cancer because it's easier to treat than schizophrenia..."

[indigorose]

I got the best of both worlds, I have both

[Cacoethes]

I have epilepsy and schizoaffective disorder.
Whenever anyone asks me why my daughter doesn't live with me or why was there an ambulance at my house or why I was in hosptial, I always tell them it was because of the epilepsy.
I'm generally not ashamed of my mental illness but physical illnesses are much more accepted and easier to understand for other people.