r/disability 17h ago

Question What are the small, unexpected ways your disability/s affect your life? The non-obvious stuff that no one considers until they're disabled.

154 Upvotes

I have a few, but was just thinking about one that inspired this question.

I am a cis woman and my girlfriend is trans. She prefers very feminine women. Because of various health issues, I can only be comfortable these days wearing comfortable, loose tops and shorts. The only ones I can find and afford give me a decidedly butch air. My girlfriend is struggling with her attraction to me partly because I can't wear cute clothes anymore. It doesn't help that I can't shower as often as I need to, so my hair gets greasy and I smell. (I finally buckled and bought a bunch of those bathing wipes to use in between showers, but I hope to gods she never walks in on me using them. I can only imagine how *that* image will affect her attraction.)

Compared to the disability itself, it's a small thing. But it just feels like... Why? You took away my ability to shower standing up, why do you have to take this too?


r/disability 5h ago

My psychiatrist doesn't want to sign my short term disability paperwork because they don't fill it out for people who are "just depressed"

44 Upvotes

I've been his patient for several years with increasing levels of care and higher doses of meds needed for my depression. I finally broke down last session and asked if he would refer me to an Intensive Outpatient program because I woke up every day not wanting to be here anymore. I pay for short term disability insurance through my job and asked him if he would sign my SD paperwork and he made some excuse and said that the "intake for the outpatient program would handle that".

Now I'm being told there is a several week waiting list for the outpatient program and he is refusing to sign my paperwork himself because "we don't sign people out of work just for being depressed. They have to be in some kind of program".

I feel completely betrayed by him and really hopeless about trying to fight through this process when I don't even have the energy to eat and get dressed every day.


r/disability 7h ago

Question People who had high powered jobs, what do you do now?

19 Upvotes

I have an acquired incomplete SCI. I have realised I can't go back to my career the way I want to and need to find a new way to fulfil myself.

If you had an intense or fast paced job which you had to give up what do you do now to fill the gap outside work? Lawyers, nurses, finance bros, sales people, military, I need your help.

I don't have kids, am not interested in academia, but need to find something mentally challenging and VERY competitive to fill the gap.


r/disability 5h ago

Question Does anyone have any statistics I can point to that can prove to family members that I will not become more physically disabled if I start to use a wheelchair to minimize my chronic pain?

14 Upvotes

I'm fully ambulatory but I live with debilitating, treatment resistant and mysterious chronic foot pain that makes leaving my home difficult and holds me back so much.

In an ideal world I'd get myself a Zeen but they are only available in the USA and I highly doubt I'd be able to get coverage through ODSP even if they did sell to Canada. So I'm strongly considering a wheelchair for shopping and traveling on public transportation and getting out of the house.

But my family is extremely against it because they are afraid that my legs will stop working and I'll become dependent on the chair if I started to use one despite me telling them over and over that I won't even be using it all the time...only in scenarios where I'm normally on my feet a lot.

I need to convince them because they will likely be helping to pay for it.


r/disability 11h ago

Question emdr for medical trauma?

5 Upvotes

curious about this. has anyone done emdr for their medical trauma? how did that go, did if affect your health in any way?


r/disability 1h ago

Rant I hate being a disabled young adult

Upvotes

I have been disabled my entire life, but my disabilities unexpectedly became exponentially worse upon moving out at age 18. My parents are insistent on me retaining my independence, so not much help from there. It just really sucks having to grapple with such awful problems when I haven't even established myself in life yet. If I were older and already finished with college, I could find a sit-down job with my degree. If I were younger and still in high-school, my parents would help me start finding diagnoses and treatment before I move out. But instead I am right in the middle, and I am forced to work an excruciating food service job at minimum wage that hurts me, on top of going to college full time.

It just really sucks. I'm so tired and symptomatic all the time, and there's not much I can do to fix it. My doctors don't even know what's wrong with me yet, I only just got a referral to rheumatology this week after half a decade of trying to get answers. I wish I could get a job that worked for me, or I wish I could live with my parents again while I figure this all out.


r/disability 13h ago

Rant Frustrated by the medical system [vent + advice welcome)

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3 Upvotes

r/disability 16h ago

Question First power wheelchair, faith and foldable? Suggestions?

2 Upvotes

Going on vacation with my family and my sister's family. Sister suggested I rent a mobility scooter so I can join The other three adults and the five kids when they do bike rides etc. went to a store today and was introduced to the ultralight foldable power chairs. Overall more convenient than mobility scooters. Easier to transport and much more agile.

Not loving the 3K price tag. Some Amazon knockoff options are under 1K.

Alternatively I could buy a cheap $500 mobility scooter or rent one for $300 at the destination area.

This is the one I checked out at the store that was definitely very convenient - and a bit less expensive at the store then here on Amazon. https://a.co/d/0bgPX2kV.

I am about 5'9 and 160 lb.

Any suggestions or words of wisdom?