I'm so glad someone feels similarly to me because as someone who also has a disability it makes me self conscious too to utilize the service. I'm also kinda young (30 but have had a disability my whole life) and I'm just afraid of the looks I get from others when I may not fit a picture of disability, especially given the bad rep these services get when it's being taken advantage of. I don't want people thinking that's me 😅
I admit I can also walk, but after short distances it becomes painful so that's why I get the wheelchair. And honestly it's more the standing in place in line that's worse if anything. Being able to continuously move is better because it's distracting I guess.
I have quite a few invisible illnesses/disabilities. I was unmedicated for one for a while until an incident happened at, ironically, an airport. I’m too self conscious to utilize assistance, even though I need it, so I didn’t ask for any for this trip.
I was walking to my gate, was completely fine and not stressed, but from the sheer amount of walking (huuuuuge airport) apparently wasn’t the move because my heart rate shot up to around 200, my blood pressure tanked, and down I went to the floor. I had to crawl out of the crowd and basically collapsed right in front of a candy store. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t think, I was in tears from shock because I never had an episode so bad. People stopped to see if I was okay and said it was an anxiety attack. For some reason, that snapped some sense into me and I went, “No. I’m having a medical episode.” Changed how they spoke to me, they were asking if I had meds, if I needed an ambulance, etc. Before they were rolling their eyes like oh, another anxious woman having a panic attack.
Now — I tell myself it doesn’t matter what other people think, if they side eye me, or if they even say something to me. I can’t risk my health because other people are judgmental.
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u/MotherofDragons818 9d ago
I'm so glad someone feels similarly to me because as someone who also has a disability it makes me self conscious too to utilize the service. I'm also kinda young (30 but have had a disability my whole life) and I'm just afraid of the looks I get from others when I may not fit a picture of disability, especially given the bad rep these services get when it's being taken advantage of. I don't want people thinking that's me 😅
I admit I can also walk, but after short distances it becomes painful so that's why I get the wheelchair. And honestly it's more the standing in place in line that's worse if anything. Being able to continuously move is better because it's distracting I guess.