Disability and Mental Health: We're Talking About It
Trigger warning: mentions of depression, anxiety, suicide, and ableism
I went to my first therapy appointment at twenty. The building looked like a house converted into an office, with walls and stairs carrying years of character and stories like my own. I remember waiting for the therapist to come out as I wiped the sweat off the back of my neck, as I had decided to wear my thick, long hair down in June. Little did I know that once I walked into her office, I would be validated in my mental health issues for the first time in my life after years of meltdowns and depressive episodes.
That memory popped up when I learned of actor RJ Mitte’s suicide. I saw a friend’s Instagram post about it, and I had to look it up myself to confirm because I did not believe it. For those who do not know RJ Mitte, he was an actor and disability rights activist with cerebral palsy who played Walter White Jr. in Breaking Bad, who also had cerebral palsy. While I did not watch the show, I loved the fact that a disabled actor was playing a disabled character. Therefore, the news of his death hit me hard as a disabled person. The subsequent news that it was suicide hit me harder. The news of his death and remembering my first therapy appointment caused me to do the one thing that I am known to do the very best at: open up my laptop and write.
Within the disability community, the issues of mental health care are as old as time. The factors range from isolation to physical health concerns. The list of factors is never-ending, along with the dismissal we have faced. I have seen more dismissal than validation from the outside.
I have suffered from depression and anxiety since I was twelve, and did not get diagnosed until I was twenty-one. From that start at the age of twelve to my first therapy session at the age of twenty, I have been told multiple times by multiple people in my life that my depression wasn’t depression. I have even been screamed at because I was very stuck on the “idea” that I was not mentally okay (I ended up being correct; I was, in fact, not mentally okay).
“Jo, that is sadness. You’re autistic; you do not understand emotions!” If I had a dollar every time I had my autism used to dismiss my mental health struggles, my gas tank would be full every single week without having to use loyalty or cashback apps. Listen, I know what sadness is. I also know that there is a difference between being a little sad and waking up every day wanting your life to end because you just could not take it anymore.
This is one of the many hills I will die on: not validating our mental health issues and using our disability to justify your conclusion is ableism. Another hill I will die on: saying that our disability is the sole cause of our mental health problems is also ableism. Tell me one more time that I need Jesus to cure my autism to get rid of my depression and anxiety, and I will flip my lid.
Ableism has a loud, shiny presence in mental healthcare, and we have normalized it when we should not have let it through the doors in the first place. To support my point, the academic in me researched this topic, and the sources did not let me down. In 2024, a study titled “Ableism in mental healthcare settings: A qualitative study among U.S. adults with disabilities” was published (the link to this study), with twenty individuals with different types of disabilities here in America interviewed. I recommend everyone read this study because this will open eyes to those who do not know what we disabled people go through when we try to seek mental health treatment. Here is an excerpt:
“Many participants described experiences in which their mental health service providers assumed that they knew all or knew better than the disabled person themselves, or in which a provider disbelieved or invalidated the disabled person's experience or access needs. This experience is often referred to as “gaslighting,” a form of psychological manipulation in which one person attempts to sow self-doubt and confusion in another person's mind. As Jules (a multiracial, pansexual transgender man with a chronic health condition) shared: “They [mental health service providers] didn't believe my expertise. My neurologist had told me to carefully inform all doctors. But the fact that I could not be listened to about [pharmacological] contraindications [for my epilepsy] was a profound barrier to access that ultimately cost me, you know, my sense that I could be physically safe while seeking psychiatric care specifically.””
Now this is about American healthcare. Just imagine what it is like in other countries. Additionally, this study was published two years ago. We now have a flying car in 2026, for God’s sake, but little improvement in mental healthcare for the disability community.
Ten years after my first therapy appointment, I look back and will say that I was extremely lucky to find an amazing therapist because she was a godsend to what my twenty-year-old self needed. I was believed for the first time, and my disability was not used against me. I should not have to say “lucky,” but unfortunately, that statement reflects this painful reality that the entire disability community faces.
Here is my cry to anyone who knows and loves a disabled person: validate us. If we are telling you that we are not mentally okay due to any factor, listen to us. Even if you can not offer anything more than your understanding presence, pull up a chair to sit and listen to us anyway. We are not immune to suffering in the darkness, and we need a community to tell us that we do have a fighting chance to find the light at the end of the tunnel.
While we do not know what exactly led RJ Mitte to die by suicide, I know that he is no longer in pain, and I hope he is resting peacefully. Rest in power, RJ Mitte.
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, 988 offers 24/7 judgment-free support for mental health, substance use, and more. Call or text 988, or chat at 988lifeline.org 24/7.
Additional links:
Here’s an article discussing the study: https://yaledailynews.com/articles/not-in-my-head-addressing-ableism-in-mental-health-services-for-people-with-disabilities
https://ucp.org/why-people-with-disabilities-face-higher-mental-health-risks-and-barriers-to-care/
https://www.emotionalrespite.co.uk/post/disability-mental-health-and-society-s-double-standards
https://autisticadvocacy.org/policy/briefs/gunviolence/
https://autisticadvocacy.org/health-care/