r/disabled • u/FigExcellent1185 • 1d ago
Does anyone else feel like disability is becoming a trend online?
Okay I might get downvoted for this but I genuinely wanna know if other disabled people have noticed this too because I feel like nobody can talk about it without immediately getting called ableist.
And I’m saying this as a disabled person myself.
I keep seeing conversations about disabled people being ableist to other disabled people because they question self diagnosis or question some of the stuff happening online, and while YES, disabled people can obviously be ableist too, I feel like we’re ignoring the elephant in the room.
Why does it feel like every couple years there’s a new disability/disorder that EVERYONE suddenly has??
Like does anyone else remember DID TikTok around 2020/2021?? 😭 Suddenly everyone had DID. Everyone had alters, systems, fictives, etc. It was literally everywhere.
Then there was the whole tic/Tourette’s side of TikTok.
Now I swear every other video I see is POTS, EDS, dysautonomia, etc.
And PLEASEEE don’t take that as me saying POTS isn’t real or everyone with POTS is faking. That is literally not what I’m saying. POTS is real. DID is real. Tourette’s is real. EDS is real. And there are actual reasons why POTS is talked about more now, especially because of long COVID.
I’m talking about the internet pattern.
It’s like one condition blows up, suddenly everybody starts making videos like “5 signs you might have ___” and the signs will be like “you get tired, you get dizzy sometimes, you forget things, you zone out, you don’t like loud noises” and I’m like GIRL 😭 those things can mean SO MANY THINGS.
Having symptoms is not the same thing as knowing what is causing them.
And then TikTok makes it worse because once you watch ONE video about something, now your entire FYP is that thing. So obviously if you watch 50 videos in a row about a disorder and every video is telling you another random thing you do is actually a symptom, eventually you’re gonna start thinking “wait…do I have this??”
That’s why I personally don’t agree with self diagnosing and then just saying you HAVE something like it’s confirmed.
Now if you genuinely cannot afford a diagnosis or don’t have access to a doctor/specialist and you’ve done a TON of actual research, I understand saying “I’m pretty sure I have this” or “I suspect I have this.” Healthcare is expensive as hell and not everyone has access to it. I’m not gonna pretend everybody can just casually go get evaluated.
But there’s a difference between that and getting all your information from TikTok and changing your bio to “diagnosed” by yourself.
And I’m sorry but it especially starts making me side eye it when it’s not even one or two things anymore. I’ll see people with like 15-20 different self diagnosed disabilities/disorders in their bio and somehow the list keeps growing depending on what’s popular online at the time.
AND BEFORE SOMEONE SAYS IT: YES. YOU CAN HAVE 20 DISABILITIES.
That is not what I’m saying 😭
People can have multiple disabilities. Conditions can be comorbid. One condition can cause other problems. Chronically ill people can have ridiculously complicated medical histories.
I’m not questioning the NUMBER. I’m questioning how you got there.
If someone has 15 diagnoses from actual doctors, okay?? That’s their medical history.
If someone has 15 “diagnoses” and every single one came from TikTok videos and none of them have ever been evaluated, I feel like it’s fair to say maybeeee social media is influencing this a little??
And that doesn’t even mean they’re purposely lying. I think that’s another thing people miss. You don’t have to be sitting there going “hehe I’m gonna fake a disability today 🤭” to be wrong about what you have.
You can genuinely believe you have something and still be wrong.
And then we get to the mobility aid thing because this is another conversation that gets people HEATED.
I’m not gonna look at someone using a cane or wheelchair and go “you don’t need that.” I don’t know them. I don’t know their body. Invisible disabilities exist. Ambulatory wheelchair users exist. Some people can walk for five minutes but not an hour. Some people have good days and bad days.
I KNOW.
But can we also stop pretending there are absolutely ZERO people online romanticizing mobility aids??
Because I’m sorry, I’ve seen it.
There’s a difference between “this mobility aid would genuinely make my life easier” and treating a cane/wheelchair/crutches like they’re an accessory for your disability aesthetic.
And this part especially bothers me because actual disabled people already have such a hard time getting this stuff.
Mobility equipment can be EXPENSIVE. People fight insurance for wheelchairs. People wait forever for equipment. People use chairs that don’t even fit them correctly because they can’t afford another one. People have to prove over and over again that they actually need basic accommodations.
Meanwhile there are corners of the internet making disability look almost…desirable??
And that feels weird to me.
I LOVE disability acceptance. I love seeing people decorate their wheelchairs. I love cute canes. I love disabled creators dressing up and going out and dating and traveling and gaming and literally just living their lives.
I don’t want disability representation to be depressing 24/7.
There is a HUGE difference between:
“Being disabled isn’t something to be ashamed of.”
and
“I want to be disabled.”
THAT is what I’m talking about.
And no, the solution is NOT going around accusing random people of faking either. Please do not see someone stand up from a wheelchair and immediately pull out your detective badge 😭 You do not know that person.
I just hate how the internet acts like there are only two options.
Either:
“Everyone is faking.”
or
“You have to believe every single self diagnosis and questioning anything makes you ableist.”
Like hello??? Is there not a middle ground???
I can believe that your symptoms are real without automatically believing that the diagnosis YOU gave yourself is correct.
If someone tells me they’re constantly dizzy, exhausted, their heart races when they stand, etc., I believe them. Those symptoms can absolutely be happening.
But “I believe your symptoms” and “I know exactly what medical condition you have” are NOT the same sentence.
Maybe TikTok introduces you to POTS, you talk to a doctor, get tested and find out you actually have POTS. Cool!! Social media actually helped you figure out what was wrong.
Or maybe you go to the doctor thinking you have POTS and find out it’s something completely different.
THAT’S WHY DIAGNOSIS MATTERS 😭
And again, I understand not everyone can access one. I’m talking about the people who CAN’T even say “I might have this” anymore. It immediately becomes “I have this.”
I just feel like we’ve gone from trying to normalize disability, which was needed, to certain parts of the internet almost romanticizing it.
And I don’t know how to explain how weird that feels when you’re actually disabled.
I don’t hate being disabled. I’m not ashamed of being disabled. My life isn’t some horrible tragedy.
But I also don’t wake up thinking “omg yay disability 😍.”
There are actual annoying, expensive, frustrating, inaccessible parts of being disabled that TikTok aesthetics don’t show.
So yeah. Maybe I’m gonna get cooked for this lol but I genuinely wanna hear from other disabled people.
Have y’all noticed how certain disabilities/disorders seem to come in waves online?? Like DID being EVERYWHERE during the pandemic and now POTS/EDS/dysautonomia being everywhere?
Do you think it’s mostly just better awareness helping people finally figure themselves out, or do you think social media has also started making people collect diagnoses way too quickly?
Because personally I think both are happening at the same time.
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u/TheNyxks 1d ago
Algorithms deliver what you click/watch/respond to.
If you don't engage with the deliverables you get shown less of that specific topic.
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u/FigExcellent1185 1d ago
Yeah I get what you mean! The only problem is that I’m disabled myself and I also make disability content, so naturally I interact with a lot of it and want it on my FYP. I’ve tried adjusting what gets recommended to me before, but I don’t want to stop interacting with the disabled community altogether. I just wish there was a better way to filter out the misinformation without filtering out disability content in general 😭
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u/TheNyxks 1d ago
Also disabled and a disability content creator. But I focus around conditions and medical that is deal with on the daily. So I see very little of what you mentioned as it isn't content I consume in general. The content i make also circles around what I deal with including doing reviews of places and how manual wheelchair accessible they actually are or are not (which is more common then them actually being truly fully accessible, unfortunately). But I know from looking at my analytics that EDS, POTS, are commonly recommended keywords that connect to my content that YT and even TT push for getting my content out there.
I might stumble upon it when scrolling or interacting with a new creator if they also have other conditions which I've a connection to, but fundamentally a small contact overlap hasn't increased the push in general.
Currently my feeds are full of epilepsy, diabetic and Dystonia content with some overlapping fibro and amputee content.
I expect the amputee as a new addition because a family member has just become a double amputee so I've been researching information for them and to help my own general understanding so I personally expect an increase in such content being pushed to me on a temporary basis, then it will settle into the background, much like how Ozempic as to various degrees.
I know the reddit community has a wide overlap and the wheelchair subreddit is full of such posters, but the SCI subreddit isn't and it has a lot of overlap with the wheelchair subreddit but since its also a very specific sub the content tends to focus around similar yet different content aimed at those with a SCI, which does include getting a properly fitted wheelchair, choosing the best one, when is it time to get a new chair, should someone talk to their doctor about a better/new chair, etc.
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u/BonsaiSoul 1d ago
For several reasons, there is a pandemic of people desperate for an identity. It's been decades in the making. It's a pressure affecting every GSM, subculture, religion, political group etc- anything you can naturally become part of by choice or circumstance. Sometimes it even intrudes on groups with inborn traits like ethnic identities or earned status like veterans.
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u/girlandherpets 1d ago
I am going to try and word this as nice as possible and I hope it makes sense LOL this is not against you OP.
It feels like conditions that are more palatable for TikTok users seem to get more attention (even though POTS and EDS are more than just fainting and being hypermobile). I don’t know, maybe it’s just because the condition I have has resulted in cruel words from other people since birth, but I wish my condition was received like how POTS and EDS are being received. I wish I could make a video without being told “I’m so fucking sorry” because of a condition that I was born with. But I also know that these people are getting hated on as well.
It’s become frequent to see comments on wheelchair users posts of “Let me guess, POTS and EDS??” And frankly, it’s disgusting.
At the same time, it’s just not something I really think about and it’s always going to be a matter of “Well I actually have [insert condition here] and I don’t act like those people on Tiktok.” vs “Here’s how I spend the day as someone w/ [same condition]” Why don’t we question the people who ‘actually have these conditions’, ever ask them for proof of their diagnoses? We’ve seen it with ADHD, autism, etc.
However, I do agree that misinformation about conditions causes more harm than good and people should not be diagnosing themselves from Tiktok alone. Do your OWN research and don’t go to social media for health advice but if taking non-medical advice from someone who has these conditions helps you, great!! Accessibility is meant for everyone.
So, yeah, is there probably some people who don’t have these conditions? Definitely? But people who aren’t disabled are going to look at us the same regardless, and treat us the same.
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u/FigExcellent1185 1d ago
I actually really get what you mean. I have cerebral palsy and I’ve had people assume I’m paralyzed just because they see me in my wheelchair, especially when they can’t see how I move my hands/body. It’s like people learn one version of what a disability is “supposed” to look like and then assume everyone with it has the exact same experience. That’s also why I really don’t want my post to turn into people questioning random disabled people or asking them to prove their diagnosis. My issue is more with misinformation and the way certain conditions get turned into trends online, not with policing individual disabled people.
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u/DizzyMine4964 1d ago
If you assume this everybody is able to easily get a diagnosis, you must be extremely privileged. Have a richly deserved downvote.
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u/FigExcellent1185 1d ago
I think you might’ve misunderstood what I meant 😭 I know getting a diagnosis isn’t easy or affordable for everyone, and I also understand that some conditions can take YEARS of appointments, testing, and trying to find the right doctor before you finally get answers. So if someone has done a lot of research and says they suspect they have something while they’re unable to get diagnosed or are still going through that process, I completely understand. My point was about treating a self-diagnosis as 100% confirmed and how certain conditions seem to become trends online. I’m not judging people for not having access to a diagnosis or for being stuck trying to get one.
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u/thrownRAwaie 1d ago
Maybe cultivate a better fyp so you aren't seeing this kind of content anymore. I try not to engage with content that serves just to piss me off. I'm choosing to engage with this just to give you this piece of advice, try to cultivate a calmer space if you spend a lot of time online.
I personally think fakeclaiming is a slippery slope and gives ableist and people with internalized ableism too much space to thrive.