read this letter

If you suffer from any kind of a chronic condition -- and I do think many of the mental disabilities/illnesses could fall into this category -- you should read this letter to patients with chronic disease, from a Dr. Rob. A short bit from it, to give you an idea of why I think it's particularly valuable reading (and something not often said or admitted by doctors):

...chronic unsolvable disease stands square in our way. You don’t get better, and it makes many of us frustrated, and it makes some of us mad at you. We don’t want to face things we can’t fix because it shows our limits. We want the miraculous, and you deny us that chance.

And since this is the perspective you have when you see doctors, your view of them is quite different. You see us getting frustrated. You see us when we feel like giving up. When we take care of you, we have to leave behind the illusion of control, of power over disease. We get angry, feel insecure, and want to move on to a patient who we can fix, save, or impress. You are the rock that proves how easily the ship can be sunk. So your view of doctors is quite different.

(h/t to readerofasaph)