No person has to fit into your box of what you think chronic illness has to look like. Being accused of lying because I’m able to go out with friends now after years of isolation—fuck you. You offered me help to get me out of that state, I took it, and thank God I did—but that doesn’t mean you own me, or I owe you an explanation when you accuse me about lying about a huge part of who I am. I won’t stay home and be miserable to appease your idea of what a sick person has to look like. No one owes you an explanation of their life. —Ex-rescuer
This article appears in Jul 6-12, 2017.
Some people get very attached to their picture of another person. You managed to get better or cope with your chronic illness better, so that’s shaking up their little world. People like that are too rigid-minded. Move on to better pastures, you don’t need friends that want to hold you back.