Disability...The Great Isolator.
Isolate- Being alone, set apart from others.
Yesterday, for the umpteenth time, I had a conversation with another disabled person about how having a disability can be so isolating.
One issue, and possibly the most significant, is the inability to leave your dwelling. These days pain is my greatest limiter to movement. I have neuropathic pain in my feet, which makes it difficult to walk/stand/drive. A neurologist told me to get exercise to lose weight and be around people. It might be difficult to exercise when the bottoms of your feet are screaming in pain (And yes, she mentioned swimming...I of course mentioned that living on Disability $$$ doesn't leave lots of room for gym membership fees). I still can't figure out where her brain was at with that comment. Although, this is the same doctor who said, "Your not disabled enough" when I asked her how and where I could get help for my brain/life problems.
Another issue I have found effecting me has been friends and acquaintances distancing themselves from me. Immediately after my brain surgery people were constantly in contact with me. I had numerous visits, phone calls, and emails. Over time the contacts lessened, which is understandable. However, after I got "well" I would tell folks about my brain injury troubles and ask them directly to call me if they hadn't heard from me, or to take me along with them if they were going to the store, mall, or wherever. People for the most part never followed through, and I tired of asking. I hadn't been asked to tag along with anyone, ever, until a close dear friend moved back into town in the last month.
I'm tiring, so this will be my last thought for now. I no longer can participate in most of the activities I used to do. Tap dancing, definitely out! Choral singing, not yet. Work, nope. Volleyball, you've got to be kidding! Driving to see the country, no way. When your out of sight of other people you are definitely out of mind.
When your "world" is limited to where you dwell, life becomes small. If you live alone those "four walls" become very confining and isolating.
-Mudger
Crossposted at http://queerliberty.blogspot.com/
