One of the tenets of disability justice is interdependence. The other principles are intersectionality, leadership of those most impacted, anti-capitalist politic, commitment to cross-movement organizing, recognizing wholeness, sustainability, commitment to cross-disability solidarity, collective access, and collective liberation (courtesy of sinsinvalid.org). Interdependence means we depend on each other. We fill in the holes where each other is unable to perform. This shouldn’t only apply to people with disabilities; this should be a basic guideline for society. Capitalism has corrupted our culture and forced us to be individualistic; it has taught us to be independent to a fault. We learn we shouldn’t depend on others, even though we all need to depend on others at times. People with disabilities are not the only people with “special” needs- everyone’s needs are special. Everyone deserves to have their needs met, by society, by their community, by the people around them who care about them. The society that we currently live in (in the U.S. and many other countries) is not able to meet people’s needs, because it has been designed to satisfy the desires of the greedy and power-hungry ruling class that owns the means of production. So it is no surprise that we have all learned to mimic this in our own circles. Dare I say, capitalism has led us to become cold, detached, emotionless, and neglectful to those in our life that need us most? It’s not far-fetched. Capitalism is one of the leading causes of mental illness. In the U.S. a majority of people struggle to survive and live paycheck to paycheck, constantly under the stress of one wrong move leaving them homeless or hungry. That stress, anxiety, and paranoia of poverty leads to mental health issues that often require treatment. I have seen poverty and trauma intertwine in my family to produce mental illness, which has made its way through my lineage to me. I live with diagnosed anxiety, depression , ADHD, and BPD (Borderline personality disorder). Although I receive treatment in the form of medication and talk therapy, they still impact me on a daily basis. Though my disabilities are invisible to others, I am disabled.
There are two models of disability. The medical model portrays the disabled person as disabled, wrong, broken, incorrect, something to be fixed. The disabled person has a problem that needs to be fixed so they can conform to society. This reinforces capitalism and erases individual differences, which actually make society interesting and exciting. The social model of disability maintains that a disabled person is only considered disabled because they are DIS-ABLED, society DIS-ABLES them. There is nothing inherently wrong with them; their society is unable to meet their needs, which causes them undue hardship. As I mentioned, society is not engineered to meet the needs of anyone, especially not people with “extra” needs (not all disabled people have extra needs, they might just have different needs than are considered socially acceptable). Obviously I subscribe to the social model. Disabled people are different from others in ways that some may see as pronounced, but it is only really considered an issue because society is not able to support them. Some of the struggles I deal with on a daily basis are anxiety, worry, overthinking, executive dysfunction, sensory overload, emotional dysregulation, fear of abandonment, dependency on others for decision-making/reassurance, hopelessness, intrusive thoughts, loneliness, social isolation, problems socializing, low motivation, and no appetite or repulsion to food. If I didn’t live in a capitalistic society and instead lived in one built on interdependence and disability justice, I believe (1) I would not have developed these conditions, (2) society would not trigger me to be mentally ill because my basic needs would be met and I could focus on what makes me happy, and (3) the people around me would understand how to be there for me and DO it, so my symptoms would not be as severe. If such conditions were met, I might not even be considered “disabled” anymore. I am disabled now because of how difficult it is for me to live up to society’s expectations, but what if those expectations changed? I would still be me, I would still have certain needs, but society would be set up to fulfill everyone’s needs, and thus we could be there for each other, and we could thrive ourselves. At the center of every anti-oppression effort must be the struggle against capitalism. Capitalism is the ultimate manifestation of oppression- it organizes, sophisticates, and perpetuates oppression on the “industrial complex” level. It is a machine, an evil one, that we all must be set on destroying. The first thing you can do to be less ableist (harmful to disabled people) is to fight against capitalism. Support community efforts to help others, build support networks, and distribute resources. Educate yourself on concepts like Marxism, and help envision the future with others, together. I am communist because I believe a world can happen where we are not driven by greed. I envision a world where we can meet everyone’s needs. I know humanity is capable of providing for ourselves; we have exhibited this before. If you don’t believe in the fundamental opportunity of being a human then your imagination probably won’t go far. But then, maybe you’re just ignorant. Capitalism is relatively young. Across the world, many other social systems have existed and thrived. Do your research. Help us create a world that makes people able to thrive, not dis-ables them.
I didn’t really think of myself as disabled until I heard other mentally ill people refer to themselves as disabled and did some research. It was actually incredibly liberating to receive my diagnoses and to FINALLY acknowledge how difficult life was for me. My whole life, I have kept it together. I have barely shown anyone besides my partner the hell I deal with just to be alive. Society doesn’t make space for weakness, or vulnerability. I am vulnerable; I share with others lots of ugly things about my life, but I still show up as someone who appears okay. I am perceived as strong, successful, and self-sufficient, so nobody would consider me disabled. Even when I was in the hospital for my mental health, the social worker, upon finding out I was college educated and employed, said “you don’t belong here!!!” I wish I could say it surprises me that someone who interacts with disabled people daily still holds stereotypes about disabled people, but it doesn’t. Mental illness and disability do not discriminate. Anyone can be affected. And anyone, no matter how okay they seem on the outside, can deal with these things daily. I received my diagnoses two years ago, and I still am not receiving the support I need. I have been clear and up front with my friends what I need and what I go through. I have gone through many moments of being suicidal, and I have told them I deal with this frequently, but I still never receive texts asking how I am. This hits me particularly hard especially due to my BPD. I am already convinced no one cares about me. If someone you care about has a disability, it is YOUR obligation to do research and figure out how to be there for them how they need. I have been told my needs from loved ones are unreasonable and my standards are too high, but the more I reflect on this, I think it is ableist. Would people say this to someone in a wheelchair? My disabilities are invisible, so I receive a lot more stigmatization and judgement. People think I am over-reacting, even when I am suicidal. They obviously don’t know that 70% of people with BPD attempt suicide, and 10% are successful in that. BPD is a highly stigmatized disorder, maybe even more so than bipolar, which is similar, but different. When people think of bipolar, they are usually actually thinking about the symptoms of BPD. Yet nobody thinks BPD is that serious, or that detrimental to a person’s well-being. I feel like I am screaming in pain, yet pleading for people to hear me.
I have decided I will no longer expend energy on keeping people in my life who do nothing to prove they want to be there. If you are unwilling to meet my needs, I have no reason to have you in my life. It is difficult enough for me to just live, let alone deal with constant crushing disappointment at the failures of others to even try to understand or empathize with what I go through. I am working on lessening my symptoms. I am working on being more independent and self-sufficient. I am working on creating my own happiness. But none of that means that I have no right to expect others to fulfill some of my needs. Society is *supposed to* function to meet people’s needs; communities are supposed to function to meet people’s needs. It is only because of capitalism that we have become accustomed to neglecting people’s needs, even our own. Just because it is commonplace does not mean it is acceptable, and it is not something I will accept from those around me. We shouldn’t sink into the despicable society we live in; we should take on the responsibility of helping create a much more healthy and fulfilled society. Don’t we all want to be fulfilled? Instead of neglecting others and hyper-focusing on ourselves, we should be organizing to dismantle capitalism and create a society that works for everyone. People have adapted to capitalism in the worst ways. I don’t think we should be adapting to survive and simultaneously accepting this toxic hyper-individualistic world. We should be doing what we can to meet everyone’s needs. I can no longer keep people around who do not think this way, and I know that means many people will fall out of my life, and that’s okay. I am looking for the people I can stick with in a revolution. Right now I am focusing on finding my own peace and happiness before I try bringing anyone new into my life, due to my dependent tendencies. I can’t speak for everyone with disabilities, but I want people to see my disabilities, to acknowledge them, to ask about them. I want to be seen as the whole of me, which includes disability, which is perfectly okay. There is nothing “wrong” with me, just the way the world excludes me from so-called normalcy. If you can’t see my disability, you can’t see the real me. And with such a great proportion of the population being disabled, you aren’t really seeing anyone. You’re seeing us, but you’re missing a core part of who we are and what our struggles are. If you don’t know my struggles, how do you know what to fight for in our future? I truly believe we can do better than this. We all have internal and external work to do to show up in the world the way we should. I don’t ask for your work to be done, I just ask to know that you are doing it, that you care about your role in perpetuating oppression, that you denounce oppression, that you support revolution, and support me. Every small way that you support a marginalized person becomes a big way to transform the world. Don’t underestimate the impact of your actions, but make it known that you are trying and always willing to do better. Always do better; never stop improving. We need people who are willing to be held accountable for how they show up and how they don’t show up. We need people who think the betterment of society is worth more than protecting their egos. We need people to understand and uphold disability justice, not just conceptually, but physically, literally. I need people in my life who are committed to these things. I need to know that people see me for who I really am: a multitude of things, a conglomeration of special abilities and special needs, a provider for others and a needer of others, a success and a failure, often in the same day, a person who exists in this world and didn’t ask to be born, but deserves to experience life like an easy breath, not a labored one.