Erin Gilmer, Disability Rights Activist, Dies at 38

[greyhound]

Obit for woman who committed suicide. I wonder if she was a member here. Sounds like she struggled with a lot of health issues.

Erin Gilmer, Disability Rights Activist, Dies at 38 (Published 2021)

She fought for a more compassionate health care system, bringing an extensive knowledge of policy and even more extensive firsthand experience as a patient.

www.nytimes.com

 

[Rabitfever]

Can't get past the paywall :/

 

[Meditation guide]

Her conditions included rheumatoid arthritis, Type 1 diabetes, borderline personality disorder and occipital neuralgia, which produces intensely painful headaches. Her lengthy medical file presented a challenge to doctors used to addressing patients in 15-minute visits, and she said she often found herself dismissed as "difficult" simply because she tried to advocate for herself.
"Too often patients have to wonder: 'Will they believe me?'" she wrote on Twitter in May. "'Will they help me? Will they cause more trauma? Will they listen and understand?'"
She spoke often about her financial difficulties; despite her law degree, she said, she had to rely on food stamps. But she acknowledged that her race gave her the privilege to cut corners.
"In the months when I couldn't figure out how to make ends meet, I would disguise myself in my nice white-girl clothes and go to the salad bar and ask for a new plate as if I had already paid," she said in a 2014 speech to a medical conference at Stanford University.
excert from the NYTimes article




She died from suicide at age 38. I wonder what method she used. She had an amazing life in spite of her health problems.

 

[greyhound]

Her last tweets are pretty sad. She almost telegraphed her intentions.

https://twitter.com/GilmerHealthLaw

 

[Alwaysbadtime]

She had two cats. I hope they are ok. Sounds like drs. wouldn't give her pain meds. So shitty.

 

[VicMackey]

Obit for woman who committed suicide. I wonder if she was a member here. Sounds like she struggled with a lot of health issues.

Erin Gilmer, Disability Rights Activist, Dies at 38 (Published 2021)

She fought for a more compassionate health care system, bringing an extensive knowledge of policy and even more extensive firsthand experience as a patient.

www.nytimes.com

She used her race as priviledge and dressed in nice white girl clothes? Really? The world doesnt need people that think or act like that. Happy dirt nap.

 

[toforigivelife]

BBC I Have a Mental Illness, Let Me Die

 

[Superdeterminist]

Rest in peace, I can only imagine her suffering. Good on her for speaking out against the terrible injustices she faced.

 

[FuneralCry]

This world is really cruel, it seems as though she was failed by the healthcare system. At least now she is free from her unbearable suffering.

 

[Alwaysbadtime]

She used her race as priviledge and dressed in nice white girl clothes? Really? The world doesnt need people that think or act like that. Happy dirt nap.

Sounds like she tried to use what she had to play a role to try and get what the fuck she needed to feel better. Super shitty comment not knowing what the fuck she was going through.

 

[Snake of Eden]

She used her race as priviledge and dressed in nice white girl clothes? Really? The world doesnt need people that think or act like that. Happy dirt nap.

She needed to do it to survive. What kind of jerk says what you just said. So tone deaf

 

[Superdeterminist]

BBC I Have a Mental Illness, Let Me Die

RIP Adam. It upsets me a little that he did not believe in a universal right to die, believing it is only suitable for those in extreme physical pain like he was. Still, I have nothing but sympathy for him and the unimaginable suffering he endured from that bizarre neurological condition which tragically nobody could help him with. I think it's great that his YouTube channel is still up so that people can learn about his struggle, because there are so many others living exactly like he did, in a tortured existence.

 

[toforigivelife]

RIP Adam. It upsets me a little that he did not believe in a universal right to die, believing it is only suitable for those in extreme physical pain like he was. Still, I have nothing but sympathy for him and the unimaginable suffering he endured from that bizarre neurological condition which tragically nobody could help him with. I think it's great that his YouTube channel is still up so that people can learn about his struggle, because there are so many others living exactly like he did, in a tortured existence.

The super rich drug companies that peddle these medications will never admit, and have very expensive attorneys on their side, that their medicines are not miracle cures, that they don't have a pill for every I'll or that their "cures" and "treatments" can cause more harm and suffering to those who use their products to seek relief and regain their health.

I did some research, antidepressants have done nothing to lower the suicide rate and only provide minimal relief for those who clinically depressed.

If medications work for you, great, they don't work for everyone.
The first tenet of the Hippocratic Oath for physicians is, "To alleviate suffering."
Many countries, including Canada, now accept mental illness as a criteria for end of life assistance.

 

[Superdeterminist]

The super rich drug companies that peddle these medications will never admit, and have very expensive attorneys on their side, that their medicines are not miracle cures, that they don't have a pill for every I'll or that their "cures" and "treatments" can cause more harm and suffering to those who use their products to seek relief and regain their health.

I did some research, antidepressants have done nothing to lower the suicide rate and only provide minimal relief for those who clinically depressed.

If medications work for you, great, they don't work for everyone.

I agree that there is so much work to be done in terms of improving and developing properly effective medications, for an almost endless list of diseases. The people who insist that the cure is always out there and it's just "your fault" for refusing it, annoy me more than anything.

 

[VicMackey]

She needed to do it to survive. What kind of jerk says what you just said. So tone deaf

Using race as an excuse for anything is horrible

 

[greyhound]

Using race as an excuse for anything is horrible

She basically just said "I stole from a salad bar to avoid starving, I realize that I was able to get away with it because I am white". She's actually acknowledging her white privilege, and yet you're telling her to rot in the ground in some bizarre form of woke retaliation?

 

[VicMackey]

She basically just said "I stole from a salad bar to avoid starving, I realize that I was able to get away with it because I am white". She's actually acknowledging her white privilege, and yet you're telling her to rot in the ground in some bizarre form of woke retaliation?

No.
Taking advantage of anything, anyone, or a system for any reason is horrible.
That is how people like us get where we are.

 

[lugerepair]

Can't get past the paywall :/

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[KuriGohan&Kamehameha]

Wow, this post on her twitter page speaks volumes.

"The idea that we can control our health outcomes simply by doing the "right" behaviors and making "correct" choices is a foundational myth of ableism. And "If you say and do xyz, you'll get good medical care" perpetuates that myth."

She seemed to be incredibly intelligent and well spoken. Her finger was right on the pulse of the issue when it came down to documenting the medical industry and wider society's colossal failures in providing support to the sick and disabled.

May she rest easy.

 

[lugerepair]

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I meant the paywall

 

[Cockney_Rebel]

Can't get past the paywall :/

If you have an Apple device, use Reader View.

Works every time.