Ahhhhh, the insiteful Dale! Where I expect a bunch of piling on of "Oh yeah... I can relate to that!", Dale zeros in on the flip side. Man... I thought everything was black and white... but it's always grey!
What I've told people for years when they tell me about the thoughtless comment group is that they can't understand. There is no way that they can get it. You just have to find a polite way to brush off comments from the people that aren't important in your life. For the ones that are important, you may or may not be successful at getting them to understand enough. This letter very nicely expresses some of the things I should have been able to articulate to the important people in my life. I do believe that it has a tone that gives too much license to the patient to participate in activities and thought processes that enhance depression.
We sometimes need a 'thoughtless comment' friend to come and drag us out of the house. Sometimes it's great, sometimes it's not worth it. But I believe that we have to keep trying.
It'll be interesting to see where this discussion goes. The acceptance of disability and the layering on of substantial depression makes many of us much, much more disabled than just our spine problems would have us. For some, it's a small component of our disability, but for others, it's huge.
comments?
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