#be supportive

I really hate the one-upping I see in the chronic illness side and other areas of people being sick. saying “you could have it harder” or “try having this” it doesn’t mean my symptoms aren’t real enough or valid enough. you have no idea what I go through. guaranteed, someone will have it worse than you. there’s sometimes a competition I see with people who are sick. as if no one has it harder than them. it’s valid saying “I have this and it really hurts me daily.” but saying “what I have is worse than you so you shouldn’t complain so much” is an absolute what the actual fuck. it’s like saying “just be positive, on the bright side” can we all acknowledge all of our shit is bad? we probably feel like death 24/7. I hate seeing the competition or the one-upping on who has it worse. you can definitely think I may never understand your pain and you won’t understand mine but it doesn’t mean that what you have is automatically worse than what anyone with chronic illnesses has. I wish this kind of behavior wouldn’t happen as much. we’re all in pain. the system is against us. we are all trying to survive so be supportive and validating instead of trying to make someone feel like their struggles aren’t valid enough. it’s dismissive as fuck and the last thing we need to deal with is dismissive behavior.