People Online Are Sharing 38 Hard-To-Believe Real-Life Facts

How depression can make it impossible to do things. I once made a custom knife for a friend, wrapped and boxed it, then let it sit there for well over a month before I was finally able to mail it. Intellectually I know that it’s a very simple task to tape on an address label and drive it five minutes to the post office, but I absolutely COULD NOT DO IT. I would get irrationally mad at myself for being unable to complete such a mundane and simple task, and yet I still couldn’t do it. That kind of mental roadblock was impossible for me to understand myself, let alone anyone who hasn’t experienced it.

How crippling the pain from menstrual cramps can be. I have endometriosis and it's absolute hell. My sister does too. I'm child free but she told me that when she was in labor the first time, she didn't even realize because it wasn't as painful as her period cramps on endo. She asked the nurse when it would start and the nurse looked at her with raised eyebrows and was like "ummm like an hour ago." And yet I've had an actual doctor laugh in my face at the idea of getting medicine to help with the pain for my cramps.

Nobody takes it seriously. It really, really sucks. I f*****g dread my periods bc I can pretty much count on there being one or two days out of every ~29 or 30 when I can barely even stand up. I have to save any sick time or time off for those days if they fall during the work week. But everyone is so dismissive about it.

Edit: wow so many supportive comments and information about treatment strategies! I feel more validated than I ever have for this suffering. Thank you everyone and anyone else reading this who suffers like this, there are so many really helpful and validating comments below.

Turn signals. They work on my car; surely they MUST work on other cars.

Mental health issues. It's amazing to me how many people think the brain, the most complicated structure in the known universe, is the only organ that's *not* capable of malfunctioning.

Incurable diseases. I have multiple sclerosis and I hear a lot of things day to day like "You're just too dedicated to your diagnosis", or "have you tried the Wahls diet" or "have you taken magnesium supplements" or "you need to be more positive" or my favorite "It's OK, god has a plan".

Having experienced the actual thing degrading my brain for eight years, done high dose chemo and a bone marrow transplant, and poisoned my immune system over 200 separate times... I can definitively say that some processes (death, degenerative neurological diseases, autoimmunity, etc) are unavoidable and something people don't always actually have the power to beat regardless of the amount of positive thinking, dieting, or exercise one does.

EDIT: I just want to point out how multiple people have replied back to try to convince me that my condition is curable, or recommending treatments that I have already done and failed. Quite literally proving my point. 😆

EDIT: One person has interpreted my comments in this thread as me saying that any attempt to treat a chronic illness is hopeless or meaningless. This is not what I was intending to say (hopefully that is obvious). I am merely stating that many people have health conditions they can't fix or control despite best efforts, and that this experience is real and they deserve to have that experience respected.

That people living in the late stages of dementia are still people with valid feelings and deserve to be treated with respect and dignity .

Restless Leg Syndrome.

People think it's just being a little uncomfortable and not finding a good position to sleep in. It's actually an uncontrollable urge to move your legs that feels almost like muscle spasms and it is absolutely maddening.

Weirdly, if my cat is sleeping on my bed, I can pat him and it makes it stop. I have no idea why.

You can't get autism, it's a neurodevelopment disorder, you are either born with it or you don't have it. Vaccines can't give you autism, medicaments won't give you or your baby autism, however genetics will, bang an autistic person and you will likely have autistic babies. When the baby has it, likely someone else in the family has it as well.

Corporate greed. People saying costs are up because they are forced to pay better than slave wages, but still making record profits

Being unable to force myself to do something with adhd. It is like I'm physically restrained when I try to force myself to do something at times.

Human contribution to climate change. I worked in a lab for a couple years for my undergrad in geophysics. Most of the data was brought back by a team of professors and grad students who took yearly trips to Antarctica. Climate change turning into a political issue is a sin I can never forgive humanity for.

Unions are good for workers.

That when you chase the validation of others, the only thing you get is tired.

Facts. Sometimes you don't know what they are, then you do. There are facts you know and others don't. And facts others know and you don't. That's ok. Be willing to learn and teach.

There are facts right now that NO human knows. Someday we'll learn what some of them are.

And even if you don't like them, that doesn't make them not-facts, or opinions.

Reality is what it is, whether or not you're willing to admit it.

The utter meaninglessness of humans in the overall fabric of the universe.

The amount of people that don't know narwhals are actual animals

Increasing taxes on a higher tax bracket doesn’t mean 100% of your income is taxed at that rate the second you enter it.

The government is not spying on you, but you are giving away way more information than the government cares about to advertisers and loyalty programs so you can save $.50 on Doritos...cool ranch of course

OCD can be a lot more debilitating than people realize.

Most Americans already pay for other people’s medical care through their health insurance policy, yet a lot seem to think that being taxed is what will cause them to pay for other people.