If we were real people

I just want to riff off this article for a bit … go read it first, it’s short: If we were real people

The defining thing that needs to change when you look at MPD/DID compared to other illnesses, both mental and physical, is that we with MPD/DID are not considered to be real people with a real illness which was COMPLETELY preventable yet an illness whose acquisition was totally outside our control.

No one would treat someone with cancer, for example, the way we’re treated. We are treated as if we are not real people.

If we were real people, we wouldn’t have to hide our illness.

If we were real people then revealing our illness would lead to compassion, concern, and support, instead of being shunned, gossiped about, and disbelieved.

If we were real people, then insulting and misleading movies and TV shows wouldn’t be made portraying us as babbling crazy people who switch into superpowered psychopathic assassins.

If we were real people, we wouldn’t have to choose between telling our stories or protecting our families from slander, lawsuits, threats to have our children taken away or threats to our lives, from the very people who caused our illness in the first place and those who shelter and support them.

If we were real people, there wouldn’t be jokes made about our illness.

If we were real people, treatment would be covered by insurance just as treatment for physical and other mental illness is.

If we were real people then groups debating as to whether our illness was even real, accusing us of lying about our symptoms and questioning our ability to parent wouldn’t be tolerated.

Of course, we are real people, but no one has noticed yet.