Content Warning: Mentions of medical gaslighting, family denial, and ableism.
“I was diagnosed in October 2023, at the age of 22. This was after years of denial and gaslighting from both my previous doctor as well as my own family.
“Growing up, there were always signs something was wrong but my symptoms were treated as a personal problem, a choice, an exaggeration. When I complained of struggle to do certain chores, such as vacuuming because it would yank my shoulder out of place, or dishes because I could barely grip them, they didn’t believe me.
“I couldn’t eat at the speed expected by my parents as kid. They didn’t believe me, they thought it was stubbornness. So I was held down and force fed. Causing long lasting health effects to this day. Of course, now I know that this is due to the gastrointestinal effects of EDS.
“The physical effects of the lack of accomodation are bad enough, but the psychological effects are even worse. The gaslighting, denial, and disbelief. The arguing. The victim blaming. The stress. The feeling of failure, of being a “problem child”, of wishing you were normal… it is trauma.
“This is why awareness is needed. Not just in medical spaces, but in familial spaces and society as a whole. Ignorance leads to ableism, and ableism leads to trauma.”
