You can't "boost" your immune system to fight off the common cold or the flu. The supplements you see, like vitamin C, zinc, or elderberry, don't actually help with the common cold. In fact, elderberry has been found to be detrimental to your recovery when you get a cold. There's no such thing as "boosting your immune system," because if you did, you'd have what we call in the medical field an autoimmune disease.

Your immune system is a highly regulated machine that works inside your body; it controls how you respond, how much you respond, when you respond, and when it comes to infection. And don't forget that the supplement industry has lobbied the federal government so that they don't have to provide evidence for their claims. So if they say it "supports immune function," that literally means it has an ingredient that has some evidence that it might help, and those studies they mention don't even have to be in humans. So, if you do get sick with a cold or the flu, make sure to wear a mask and do whatever makes you feel comfortable. You don't need to take supplements to "boost your immune system" - it's not going to help or do anything.
#HeatlhSelfDefence#DisabledLiberation #NoLessThanLiberationForAll #DisabledRefletions #DisabledRevolution #JusticeIsNotEnoughWeWantLiberation #COVIDconscious #MaskUp #WearAMask #CovidRealist #CovidIsAirbone

“I don't want to burden/ inconvenience anyone with my problems, I can solve things by myself.”

Transcending the individualistic self-optimizing logic of capitalism requires us to challenge the systems and norms that embed in us the notion that we are isolated social units of production responsible only for ourselves. To foster community, we need to become the kind of people to whom support can be reasonably sought, while at the same time expecting our community neighbors not to turn away from any action on our behalf that does not maximally benefit them. Only under such conditions can we cultivate an ecosystem of resourcesinstitutions that will adequately ensure our survival until liberation.
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“But hey, have you tried this vitamin? Or have you tried yoga? Or have you tried meditating?”

Have you tried shutting the fuck up?

Have you tried asking a disabled person if they want any advice or if they need help before putting yourself above them and acting like you want to “save” them?

Have you tried holding the disabled person's uncomfortable pain instead of trying to heal them (because you're not going to, surprise)? Have you tried trying to understand that shared vulnerability can be uncomfortable, but it can also be a rallying point?

Have you tried that?

I've been told about yoga from second one, and every disabled person has been told about yoga, meditation, and vitamins. But one thing that very few people do with disabled people is listen, ask questions and say, “Damn, I'm so sorry. Is there anything I can help you with?”
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Does that disabled person inspire you or are you surprised that they were included?

Disabled people have to navigate barriers to access, prejudice and discrimination against people based on their disability, which leads to many more disabled people feeling repressed and ignored.

When non-disabled people revel in their shock at the achievements of disabled people and turn it into inspiration porn, they are speaking of an internalised complicity in maintaining the lack of access for disabled artists and performers.

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Communicating better with healthcare professionals is essential. Because it relates pain to how difficult it is to do everyday things. For example, I can't ignore pain for more than 30 minutes, but watching TV can distract me a bit, although I can still function. However, I sometimes have a hard time concentrating, and moving is even harder. Nausea and dizziness can set in, and at those times, I'll probably be screaming and cursing.

Fortunately, I've only experienced a 10 on the pain scale once in my life, which is either going in and out of consciousness or just being completely unconscious. So yes, the question of where you are on the pain scale is a pop quiz, a trick question. Healthcare professionals should know that when a patient says they're in pain, they're actually experiencing something very real.

This Manosky pain scale is helpful because it's relative. Even if someone has a higher pain tolerance than I do, they'll still be cursing when they hit a nine on their tolerance. I also want to point out that during a physical assessment, if the pain is a five or higher, and then if I don't move or make noise, it can be a four or lower. This is for discussion and education.
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In chronic illness there are two things you will learn very early on. First, your discomfort will make everyone around you uncomfortable, so you will naturally start hiding your symptoms, putting on a brave face, and acting normal. The second thing you will learn is that no matter how miserable your chronic illness is, there are people who think you are being over the top or faking it. And I am not trying to be dismissive.

One thing I find really helpful is vocalizing how I feel, even when I am hiding my symptoms. So, when I put on that brave face and act normal, I still tell my peers, friends, and family exactly how I feel. I complain about my symptoms 24/7 so that people around me can understand that that is my baseline feeling: constantly feeling bad, but still functioning for the most part.

There will come a time when your symptoms will be so bad that you will not be able to hide it. This is really different from your usual baseline. But shouldn't people naturally recognize that something is wrong with me? Yes, but a lot of times during these episodes, that's when people tend to think you're being over the top. If they're familiar with your baseline of always feeling bad, but still pushing through and functioning to the best of your ability, they'll take you more seriously when you're in an episode where you can't function.

I've learned over the years that people tend to think you're over the top and don't understand what it's like to be chronically ill, which means we have to push ourselves a little harder. So complain more, because, one, you deserve it, and two, it'll help you in the long run.
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On Knowing How to Accompany

Written from the perspective of chronic illness

One of the things I believe is most difficult when accepting a chronic illness or disability is understanding the role of pain and suffering.

I think it’s important to talk about the significance of accompaniment, and knowing how to be with people in pain, NOT in front of them: vigilant, preventing, trying desperately not to make mistakes—after all, humans make mistakes, and that’s where we learn, in fact, it’s the basic principle of any science. Nor is it about pointing out what they should do, or externally labeling the experience the person with the illness is going through, or trying to make them fit into our ideas. Again, it’s about being with them. NOT behind them, waiting for time to pass, waiting for the pain to pass, saying "We’ll see each other when you’re better." No, we’ll see each other now, because that’s when I need support and love, not when it’s easier to see me, well, "healthy" and comfortable. Waiting for an illness that doesn't actually go away to "pass," without seeking information or resources, without supporting or providing tools to help organize our new way of living, our pain, our dependence, our new difficulties, and also our way of adapting to the circumstances.

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If you don't want to acknowledge my disabled being, my body, and my way of being in space, it's because you don't want to acknowledge me.

"I don’t see your disabled being, just a wonderful person" is not a compliment, it's a shameful phrase from someone projecting their ableism onto us. Why shouldn't you see my illness, something society uses to define my life? Why shouldn’t you see my device that helps me move? It's such an essential and obvious part of disabled people who use it. Why shouldn’t you see my disability? Why is being disabled something bad? If you see me as a disabled person, what offense is that? It’s because I am, society has categorized me as disabled under the parameters of ableism, and when I reclaim this category as revolutionary, it is denied to me. I am disabled because society makes me disabled. Often, disabled people (both disabled and able-bodied) automatically associate being disabled with suffering, and suffering with something they should fix. This is part of the capital culture, of not wanting to accompany people, of wanting to "fix" people's suffering. The reality is that being disabled is structural, social, my suffering cannot be fixed with individual actions, my suffering is political.

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