Those of us who’ve had a chronic illness or a mental health diagnosis for at least a little while end up hearing some of the same things over and over from people who might mean well but end up coming across as insensitive or ableist.
I reached out to a few communities on social media to compile our pet peeves, and they go like this:
- “Everybody has something.”
- “I’m sad, too.”
- “I hurt, too.”
- “Drink more water.”
- “Exercise more.”
- “Lose some weight.”
- “Find a new hobby.”
- “Just get out and do something.”
- “You’ll get over it.”
- “It’ll get better.”
- “You still have that?
- “Well, at least ________.”
- “You should eat ________.”
- “Have you tried ________?”
- “I had that and it went away.”
- “My ________ has that, and they just ________.”
- “You’re doing too much.”
- “You need to take better care of yourself.”
- “You probably just have low ________.”
- “You’re too young to have all that.”
- “Can’t you just get surgery?”
- “You’ve gotten through worse.”
- “You should try a different doctor.”
- “You should get a second opinion.”
- “You use that as an excuse for everything.”
- “There’s always something with you.”
Get more communication tips at www.TalkingSplat.com.






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