Comment by PaulHoule

What I observe is people who build a whole identity around illness and disability, I wonder sometimes if my town (or maybe myself) attracts this sort of person. This kind of person probably has a real disease to some extent but sure as hell they are depressed by the DSM definition and have given up on life. Contrast that to other people, like a blind student who climbed a 12,000 foot mountain with the search and rescue club and was in the group that reached the summit fastest.