Girls Using Walking Sticks

It was deleted because someone reported it. That's how it works. And there is a certain weary resignation on this board regarding that.

Yes, we know. But it is also very much a contemporary concern that there seems to be a huge increase in the number of young people not functioning in society because of mental health issues. The disability benefit's bill, for example, is now 40% young people with mental health issues. These young people are claiming disability benefits.

Mental health issues and trans identities have a definite over-lap - as evidenced by the clinicians at GIDS and the subsequent Cass Report. If some young people are expressing their personal distress through assuming a disabled identity then this needs to be looked at.

Nobody is suggesting the physical symptioms are not there ( I'm not talking about you personally) but that the root cause of many vague, and energy debilitating, conditions may well be pyscho-social in origin.

Is anyone on here actually arguing that hidden disabilities are not debilitating or valid? This isn’t what this thread is about and is certainly not the OP’s argument. I think you are arguing against a strawman.

I can't point it out because your post has been deleted. Which should give you pause for thought.

Yes largely agree with what you say except I would just add to say that CAMHS in particular will usually/often categorise dysfunctional behaviour/self harm/suicidal ideation/sick role or illness behaviour etc etc as 'behavioural'. The young person isnt give a MH diagnosis.

So while I and my colleagues might loosely term what is going on for someone 'poor mental health', its not a MH condition as such, according to the MH teams.

This is much more about choosing and wanting an identity that links into something, rather than a neurosis or psychosis - usually.

I'm curious what's "not real" about a condition that causes me to be unable to swallow or speak clearly (or at all sometimes) if I am active for more than a few minutes at a time?

I didn't say that. Despite your quotation marks, I didn't say that. Point out to me where I said that.

If you're going to hallucinate something I didn't say, attribute it to me and then expect me to humour you with a polite discussion about sealions, you are sadly mistaken.

Please don't tag me again.

And I have been politely pointing out that may not be what is going on here, or not solely what is going on here. And specifically, trying to explain that you cannot see disability. Hidden disabilities are just as disabling and just as valid. There isn't a hierarchy of disability based on how visible it is.

AI is pretty amazing. I just googled ( again) "growth in young women using walking aids", and this was the AI response at the top of the search page:

"While there's no widespread, statistically significant "trend" of young women using walking aids as a fashion statement, some young women are increasingly using walking sticks or canes for mobility assistance due to various reasons, including injuries, disabilities, or simply as a fashion accessory, according to a discussion on Mumsnet"_

Haha!

I'm saying one person cant speak for every disabled person. We are not a homogenous group. I dont care and think it has no impact - I also think its dangerous to get into this "they are fakers" mindset as pp have pointed out. But then another disabled person might strongly disagree.

As i lightheartedly pointed out to pp - we don't have a agm to discuss out groupthink!

lol but I'm not? I'm being really respectful and you are accusing me of being angry, having temper tantrums while dodging responding to any of my points. PP have pointed this out to you too.

I just cba getting into this when you just jump to personal attacks from the off. Its such a transparent and cringeworthy way to "win" an argument. But this is just a discussion and I disagree with you.

Not everything is about you. The thread was about the observed trend for young women to use walking sticks as some sort of observable identity marker.

I dont take strong exception. I just don't care. It's just not an issue. And you were really needlessly rude. And if you dont think you are disabled then thats totally your choice - noone is going to force you into it or vice versa. But for a lot of people this isnt a choice and if it is why begrudge them asking for help?

I definitely meet the Equalities Act definition of disabled and I really don't mind about it. Am too busy getting on with living my own life as best I can

I'm disabled and have to use a mobility aid. I can't walk without one.

I'm sure some disabled people are upset. It's a very diverse group of people and we all have different opinions.

As I said above, I am not upset. I'm relieved that young women in distress choose to use a walking stick instead of becoming anorexic or bulimic, taking too many pills or using other more dangerous or destructive ways of dealing with their distress. Being a young woman is difficult. Sometimes it's easier to act out distress than to verbalize it. If using a walking stick helps some young women get through that period, I'm glad.

I came across this MA course in 'Disability studies' which may be of interest to some. I came across it through the 'Chronic illness and Inclusion' website I linked to earlier; and one of the lecturers on the course seems also to be very much engaged in trans activism. There definitely seems to be an over-lap.

www.hope.ac.uk/postgraduate/postgraduatecourses/disabilitystudiesma/

In what way is it goady? It's a genuine question? All the "spoonie" conditions have a big overlap with my condition, Myasthenia in terms of how they present -.eg exertion makes us more unwell (and I was misdiagnosed with CFS in my twenties).

Why am I not allowed to challenge the idea these aren't real illnesses?

I was wondering recently when the walking stick would become a fashion item. So it’s started?

You see more young people that average with sticks/walkers using walking aids at certain demos. It’s like the tshirts you can buy with double mastectomy ‘cuts’ on them (not for breast cancer). I assume it’s the new fashion statement.

My disability doesn't cause me to limp, because it affects both sides of my body. Are you implying that makes it less real than yours?

I'm curious what's "not real" about a condition that causes me to be unable to swallow or speak clearly (or at all sometimes) if I am active for more than a few minutes at a time? I get ill just from applauding at a concert, or talking for more than ten minutes or so at a time. Most evenings I am too weak to lift my head up. Please could you explain why my opinion is less valid than yours?

I know plenty of people who don't fit the stereotype who still have experienced pretty major problems post-covid. I'm not saying we should've masked and social distanced forever - but covid is a nasty virus and we still don't know its full effects.

@GenderlessVoid - I was asking @Baggingarea because they seemed to take strong exception to somebody suggesting that disabled people would be pissed off at non-disabled people appropriating disability as an attribute.

I would have thought that members of a relatively small group in society who could legitimately see themselves as being vulnerable and/or oppressed to a greater or lesser extent because of a shared characteristic would be quite reasonably upset to have more privileged members of society who don't share that characteristic appropriating it.

But maybe it's just me...

(FWIW according to the ONS Family Resources Survey I can count myself as one of the 24% of disabled people in this country, but if I identified myself as such I would honestly consider myself an imposter)

The Covid argument would hold more water if it wasn’t generally one type of person claiming to suffer residual effects.

I do think there is an epidemic of certain young women believing they are unwell. It seems a shame and so limiting: I know that for some marginalised for whatever reason from school it provides a tribe and an identity. It must be tough for parents to deal with.

I do think that we have underestimated the effects of Covid on the general population. Even young healthy people I know have suffered residual effects. Maybe that partly explains the explosion of diagnoses of POTS etc.

POTS has been fairly manageable for me through medication and exercise, but it is still unpleasant.

I'm not pissed off at non-disabled people "appropriating disability". If people want to use walking sticks, so what? At worst, it normalizes them, which helps those who need to use them and esp helps those who would benefit from them but don't want to use them bc of stigma.

For those young women who identify as disabled and, perhaps, don't meet the criteria that others have for disabled, it's still so much better to use a mobility aid than to become anorexic, which was what some distressed girls and young women did when I was young. It seems so benign to me. I'm relieved that they chose this way to express their distress.