Do you suffer from a mental illness?

I know I do. I suffer.

I know some people like more empowering terms ('living with mental illness', an idea I found on here) but I am not in a place in my life where I can speak of it in these ways.
Bringing my knowledge of feminism and anti-sexual violence activism I know some people have begun identifying as 'sexual assault survivors' to remove the lack of agency implied by 'victim'. I myself have chosen to use the word 'victim' because I want to emphasize the fact that it is a crime: in a crime there is a perpetrator and a victim, and I was the victim of sexual assault. But of course everyone is different. It is important to find the words to describe yourself/experience that feel right for you.

Back to 'living with' vs 'suffering from' discussion, I hope that one day I will be more accepting of my disorder(s) so i can work WITH them not against them. But where I am now is very far from that goal.

posted 2:02