Abled people find it hard to believe how many people are actually disabled, vulnerable, mentally ill, or have chronic pain and impairment that requires ongoing medication or other treatment because they think of themselves as "normal" and "the default" and assume other people are faking.
It's a pretty common story, the same as every other dominant group looking askance at the marginalized and asking why they can't just bootstrap themselves out of the problem.
This is particularly true for mental illness, chronic pain, or anything that doesn't have an obvious, blatant reason why the person is suffering.
I understood this intellectually before, especially with regards to mental illness, but I have become more personally acquainted as my health and mobility have gradually declined.
More people will demand to know what's wrong with you than will offer to help.
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