hi. i "get" where you're coming from, to a point. I live in the US. I receive disability. I am blessed to get disability for my mental problems. Thing is...

...well, the US is -clearly- not as "progressive" as Canada. The area I live in leans conservative, which is...odd, considering how much poverty and crime we have here. Inequality, too. Anyway...

...even though I was on the fringe for years, from a young age, never given proper treatment until recently, etc., the -main- reason I'm benefiting from what (very) little is left of the safety net in 21st century America is...

...my parents were/are "upwardly mobile," and now they're "comfortable" or "genteel" or...whatevs. Not rich, but they have sufficient resources and status, etc. to "get er done" on my behalf, which is great and all, but...

...there's tension. See, where I live, most "mental patients," especially those of us on disability, are -not- treated w/ the least bit of compassion or kindness...least of all me (long story). So, now, I'm slathered in stigma and labels, but I'm also living w/ my (now more affluent) parents, so there's this level of negative vibes I get off people 'round here, from the people at the mental health clinic (some of the worst offenders when it comes to screwing over the mentally ill, btw) to even people at a local coffee place I go to now and then for my iced coffee fix.

OK. Didn't mean to ramble on, just...do.NOT.be.Ashamed.

Oh...and...if you believe in a "higher power" or what have you, offer up a prayer of thanks for living in a place w/ more extensive social programs. Things are getting ugly here in the USA, and I doubt its going to get much better any time soon.