As someone with 2 high stigma conditions--bipolar2 and lymphedema--Ive. had to struggle not to compound the suffering from the illnesses themselves (which are both horrible) with the hatred that can turn into self hatred for having them. You work very hard to educate and advocate on lipdema--but I am afraid that the dumbest and cruelest people are the least able to absorb your knowledge and benefit for your experience. The world could stand more Marie Claire articles which you could write. You sound weary of these post comment post comment interchanges who will not change their angry or self righteous responses to you. I really think the best reaction to them is to tell them to go fuck themselves, and for you to explore the many facets of lipdema-- treatment and the "fat stigma" attached to so much suffering in pitching to magazines. I have thought, written,advocated and experienced the stigma of the two most painful aspects of my life. After all of this, even as a student of psychoppathology, I cannot say I understand the depth of cruelty and hatred.

Where does it live? Where does it grow? How do you relax into self satisfied certainty, which is a cruelty on its own? Where is shame? Is empathy dead? Or was it never learned from the beginning.?