One of the responses I see every time I reblog something related to diabetes and go through the notes is something along the lines of, “Get over it! It’s not bad at all (or not as bad as X)!”

iamananglerfish:

I’m going to ignore that that’s derailing and that intersectionality is a thing.

There really is nothing like having a disease that has a stigma, though.

And there really is nothing like never being able to completely relax and having to monitor every single thing your body does when that illness is chronic.

I think, more than anything though, diabetes jokes are proof that people don’t want people who are either fat or chronically ill to “just be healthy.”

It’s proof that people are pieces of shit who just want something to laugh at.

That stigma does affect my life. It doesn’t just make me feel shitty or contribute to my anxiety. It doesn’t just cause some people to look at me with disgust. It influences the reactions that people have when they find out I’m diabetic and affects whether or not they’ll be willing to help me if I’m in medical trouble and need their (a stranger’s) help. I can’t tell you how many times my knees have buckled in public and I’ve been unable to walk, move, or talk and almost died because my blood sugar went low due to unforeseeable circumstances. The pervasive attitudes about diabetes — that it’s either my fault or that it’s NOT a serious illness — contribute TREMENDOUSLY to the amount of help I may be able to get and whether or not I’ll live if I’m not able to help myself.

I don’t know how people don’t see that.

Bolded for emphasis.