Disability Pride After ECT

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George H. W. Bush, the signing of the ADA

What is Disability Pride Month?

Disability Pride Month, celebrated in July, honors people with disabilities and their contributions to our civil rights. This event began in the United States to celebrate the passing of Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990.

The ADA Explained

Video of the Capital Crawl

Rep. Tony Coelho Testifies at the 1988 ADA Hearings

This month-long event aims to change perceptions of disability, end stigma, and promote disability as a natural part of human diversity. Its also an opportunity for people with disabilities to unite, celebrate their uniqueness, and raise awareness of the daily challenges we face for equal treatment.

The disability pride flag Diagonal Stripes: There are five diagonal stripes crossing the flag, each with a different color: Red: Symbolizes physical disabilities. Gold: Represents cognitive and intellectual disabilities. White: Signifies invisible and undiagnosed disabilities. Blue: Represents psychiatric disabilities. Green: Symbolizes sensory disabilities, including deafness and blindness.
The disability pride flag Diagonal Stripes: There are five diagonal stripes crossing the flag, each with a different color: Red: Symbolizes physical disabilities. Gold: Represents cognitive and intellectual disabilities. White: Signifies invisible and undiagnosed disabilities. Blue: Represents psychiatric disabilities. Green: Symbolizes sensory disabilities, including deafness and blindness. Wikipedia

Disability Pride After ECT

After electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) damaged my brain and left me severely disabled, pride was the last thing I felt. Doctors didn’t believe anything was wrong with me, no one else did either, leaving me trapped with undiagnosed, untreated brain damage for years in a community where disability was heavily stigmatized.

During that time, my self-esteem quickly eroded from my failings. I no longer knew how to do basic tasks, communicate clearly or relate to people. I lost relationships and was too impared to make new ones. I felt worthless, drowing in the guilt and shame created by the dependence my disabilities created.

With the push of a button, I had became an outcast from my own life. Without any way to understand my experience or help myself recover, I became deeply suicidal for years. I believed brain damage meant the end of a meaningful life for me until I learned about neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to adapt after an injury. This ignighted the hope I needed to rebuild my life.

Fast forward several years, I finally got testing after expressing interest in going back to school. This led to rehab, where I learned skills that would help me work around my disabilities in college. Having a diagnosis have me access to ADA accomadations that put me on an equal playing field with my non-disabled peers.

The trip that changed my beliefs about disabled life

A friend who worked for the college’s ADA services invited me to a disability conference. Over the next two days I got a crash course on disabilty rights and the people who fought for them decades ago, and what battles need to be won today.

Finding Community

I met people I could relate to. For the first time in years I didn’t have to hide who I was to be seen and accepted. My new friends and I swapped war stories, accessbility tips, and listene to presentations about what disabled life was like before the ADA.

Being abandoned by my doctors after ECT disabled me was devistating. Without recognition or support for brain damage, I suffered alone in ways no one should after ECT (but sadly, this is common).

These losses coupled with the stigma of disabilty made me beleive my life was over. However, through the disability rights movement, I found a new community of people with shared needs and struggles. Disability rights activists helped me see myself in a new light and find new ways to live, proudly disabled.

Your Disabilty Rights

If you have been disabled by ECT, I am sorry for all you have lost. Your life still matters and you don’t have to go through this alone. You can learn new ways to see yourself, and find support in the disability rights and ECT survivor communities.

Learn more about the disability rights

Remarks of President George H. W. Bush at the Signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act July 26, 1990

No Pity – This book is crash course on the disability rights movment for allies and disabled people

Crip Camp – Netflix documentary about the people behind the ADA

The Music Within – Movie about Richard Pimentel, a disabled vet’s role in the ADA

Inspiration P*rn: Oscar Bait! – A disablity rights activist explains how disablity tropes in media impact disabled people

The ADA Legacy Project: Moments in Disability History

Scope: Equality for Disabled People

Disabled people make up 15% of the world’s population, representing all ages, races, genders, and backgrounds

Anna

Anna is a childhood psychiatric drug and a teenage electroshock survivor. She founded Life After ECT to ensure people injured by electroconvulsive therapy have easy access to resources that can help them understand their injuries and find a path to recovery.