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Is Disability Simply A Label? Or Does It Exist

Author: RickLondon
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I am officially disabled and have been for several years now. I don't like the word disabled very much. Mine was labeled an "emotional disability" aka depression. Whatever they wanted to call it, I was not going to lay down and die. That was for sure.

I worked in many jobs and occupations in my adult life and never really was very focused until I reached my mid-forties. But by that time I was so burned out by the hard knocks of the jobs I had taken, I didn't have a clue if I would ever reach any of my dreams or goals. I was told I had depression. I was even treated for it. It didn't help. My last job was in 1999 in sales. That pink slip helped put me on disability. With that disability, came the label "disabled". I knew it would be an uphill battle and I was willing to fight it.

There are a few perks to being disabled. One is a lot of time to research and learn to use the Internet. It did not take me long to discover a disease called "TRD" or labeled by the psychiatric community, "treatment resistant depression". Not to my surprise, it turned out to be what I had the whole time. I was one of the few lucky ones who received the only treatment for it, a vagus nerve implant, which is no longer covered by most Insurance nor Medicaid. There was a very brief window of opportunity and I grabbed it. TRD is not depresion per se, but a dysfunctioing vagus nerve, of which I had, and it appears to be depression because it can cause symptoms of it, same as thyroid problems. I was tired all the time, in fact too tired to work. I was sometimes too tired to get out of bed after eight hours of sleep. After I received the treatment, my life took a 360 degree turn for the better. I did have one setback about eight years ago, a major heart attack, but I recovered rapidly, and did not let it depress me.

Though I am still labeled "disabled" by many, I have found that the Internet has leveled the playing field. I say that a bit facetiously and with a bit of sarcasm, because, during my "depressed state", I was keenly aware of the discrimination targeted my way, though those who were being discriminating were not aware of my awareness. I guess they thought people with depression or any disability don't have awareness or intelligence. We do.

I have often been told that when one door closes another window opens. Though I find such cliches trite at times, it fit this bill perfectly. My life actually started, when I felt it had ended, when my 9-5 workdays were terminated. I never looked back and very glad I didn't.

The Internet is now my work tool. My commute to 'work" is now about 25 feet and in my jogging suit. I started Londons Times Cartoons with no capital, no angels, and no venture capitalists. I had no money, and in less than nine yeares it has evolved into the busiest cartoon site on the Internet (and still is). The Alexa rankings astound me every time I look at them. Nutri-Slim and Ebay have bought full-page ads on my site. Ihave had 9 million visitors within the past two years. That may not sound like much but for a cartoon site it is. Most cartoons on the Internet last from 3-6 months and the others are gone within a year. I get calls from webmasters I've never met asking me to do their SEO.

I opened two cartoon gift mega-stores and six niche funny gift shops. Sales remain brisk. I have affiliates through my manufacturer 3drose, many of them on Amazon and they sell plenty as well. I create all sorts of products with my cartoons on them; greeting cards, t-shirts, jogging suits, tank tops, mugs, beer steins, coasters, baseball caps, and, you name it, we make it. All this is due to research on the Internet and making phone calls. Oddly enough, a disabled person, and that person is me, can write a lucid, professional email, talk on the phone professionally, create a social network and blog professionally, and write articles, hopefully professionally. The old boy network, who was once so involved in keeping a stigma attached to depression and/or disability is out of the picture now. I have no excuses anymore not to succeed. I deal with people who want me to succeed, and it helps them succeed.

I am a "living room-industrialist". I come up with a cartoon concept, I make a call, its on a product, and jobs are created.

Disabled people, I was told, were not necessarily as inteligent as the norm. That's okay, I just finished three years at a top-notch accredited business college online, at age 52. I am 53 now and will complete my coursework next year and if all goes well, my masters. I will use the Internet once again. Why waste time with people who are more concerned with "labeling" me so as to put parameters on my limitations, than those who know me just as a person and helping me succeed. I am not saying a depressed or disabled person should hide behind his or her computer all day, I spend a great amount of time my day being and working with people, handing out business cards, going on talk shows, and doing as much as I can in the public. I teach free Internet workshops to the elderly, many of them shut-ins.

In December 2008, I have launched 4 new online niches shops that my cartoon products; Justfunnymousepads, Justfunnycoffeemugs, and Justfunnygreetingcards, not to mention two weeks ago when I created the first cartoon maternity shop mirthgirthbirth.com which also sells infant wear and tees for kids, and of course my anchor site which is completely free, Londons Times Cartoons londonstimes.us , now ten years old.

Labeling is a bad thing. Have you ever noticed that a person with a mental illness or physical disability is the only person labeled by his illness or disease? If a person has MS, we don't say "She is MS!", or if a person has diabetes, I've yet to hear, "There goes Mr. High Blood Sugar!". But if a person has depression, it never fails, "He/she's depressed" or "has depression" or "mental illness". That usually puts an end to the conversation as the stigma remains and many don't want to know much more. That is unacceptable.

It might do them good to go to some of the famous people with depression websites such as http://www.geocities.com/coverbridge2k/artsci/famous_people_depression.html , or http://www.angelfire.com/mn2/illstandbyyou/famous.html . I am always surprised to see my name on each of the pages. There are hundreds of them; simply google "famous people with depression". My name generally appears below Abraham Lincoln and Greg Louganis. Of course they were depressed and couldn't have accomplished much, could they?

About the Author

Cartoonist Rick London has overcome many obstacles, and has some of the most visited humor-based websites on the Internet. His latest funny gift store is Just Funny Greeting Cards Disabled cartoonist Rick London opens yet another niche shop, cartoon greeting cards