--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People always feel sorry for you if…" description: "\"“People always feel sorry for you if you’re physically sick. It doesn’t matter if you have cancer or a cold. People always feel sorry for you and ask y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/annie-ortiz-220115_american-women_people-always-feel-sorry-for-you-if-you_2325350.jpg" --- # People always feel sorry for you if you’re physically… ![“People always feel sorry for you if you’re physically sick. It doesn’t matter if you have cancer or a cold. People always feel sorry for you and ask you if you’re okay. You need money? You got it! You want to meet a celebrity? Of course you can! You want to go to a convention, ComiCon, Disney…” quote by Annie. Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/annie-ortiz-220115_american-women_people-always-feel-sorry-for-you-if-you_2325350.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/annie-ortiz-220115_american-women_people-always-feel-sorry-for-you-if-you_2325350.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/445/annie-ortiz-220115_american-women_people-always-feel-sorry-for-you-if-you_2325350.jpg) > ““People always feel sorry for you if you’re physically sick. It doesn’t matter if you have cancer or a cold. People always feel sorry for you and ask you if you’re okay. You need money? You got it! You want to meet a celebrity? Of course you can! You want to go to a convention, ComiCon, Disney World, anywhere in the world? You’re going to go there. That doesn’t happen when you’re mentally ill. If you’re mentally ill, people look at you differently. People roll their eyes when you talk about how sad you are. People won’t lift a finger to help you. “Get a job,” they’ll tell you. “Stop being so lazy. Be grateful you don’t have cancer. Get over it. It’s in the past. You have no reason to be sad.” And that isn’t how it works. But, of course, they wouldn’t know that. They’ve never been mentally ill, they don’t know how you can be so permanently damaged by your past that your present is painful and your future looks bleak. They don’t understand that most days getting out of bed is a chore. They don’t get that sometimes getting a job is out of the question because you’re just too damn afraid to even speak to anyone. That isn’t something you can just get over. But no one knows that because mental illnesses aren’t a real problem apparently. Apparently, the fact that over 800,000 million people die from suicide each year isn’t a real problem. Apparently, the fact that 15% of the adolescent population self-harms isn’t a real problem either. And, apparently, it isn’t a cause to worry that one in 200 American women suffer from an eating disorder. And, as I stand on the balcony, staring at the glittering city, thinking about the short time I spent in Paperthin Hearts, meeting all of the damaged children, I wonder how in the world people don’t understand what a mistake they’re making when they assume that having cancer is worse than being depressed or anxious or wanting to starve yourself to the point of death. How is that a mystery to anyone? Cancer patients are told they’re brave. They’re all made out to be martyrs. They’re given everything they need. Almost all of them. Mental health patients? They’re lucky if they get the right treatment they need before their broken, bleeding hearts, desperate only for love, destroy a part of them that can never be repaired.”” [Annie. Ortiz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-ortiz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Society offers superficial support for physical illness but neglects mental health, leading to stigma and misunderstanding. **In simple terms:** Physical illness gets help, mental illness ignored. Key Takeaway Advocate for mental health awareness. Themes stigma mental health misunderstanding support inequality Mood frustrated empathetic Type quote personal When to use this quote - healthcare policy - education - peer support groups Key Concepts public health psychology social justice Questions to Reflect On - How can we normalize mental health conversations? - What policies could reduce stigma? A Different Perspective Changing attitudes requires systemic effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [American women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-women/) [Cancer patients](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cancer-patients/) [Disney World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/disney-world/) [Eating disorder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/eating-disorder/) [Getting A Job](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/getting-a-job/) [Having Cancer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/having-cancer-703496/) [Ill Mentally](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill-mentally-2614457/) [Ill People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ill-people-1555432/) [Illnesses Aren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/illnesses-aren-3614122/) [Mental health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-health/) [Mentally ill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mentally-ill/) ## Related quotes > [“And indeed, if Evgeny Irtenev was mentally ill, then all people are just as mentally ill, and the most mentally ill are undoubtably those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/and-indeed-if-evgeny-irtenev-was-mentally-ill-then-all-people-are/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [“Mental Illnesses aren't bad – if you overcome them, you are much stronger than before – you bloom from Wounds from which you once bled.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sino-melo/mental-illnesses-aren-t-bad-if-you-overcome-them-you-are-much/) [Sino Melo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sino-melo/) > [When you fall ill, people send you CDs. Very often, in my experience, these are by Leonard Cohen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/when-you-fall-ill-people-send-you-cds-very-often-in-my-experience/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“At least 20 percent of seriously ill people who are told that they are near death actually forget the news within a few days…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-schulz/at-least-20-percent-of-seriously-ill-people-who-are-told-that-they/) [Kathryn Schulz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-schulz/) > [Well, many insane people and seriously mentally ill people seem very reasonable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/well-many-insane-people-and-seriously-mentally-ill-people-seem-very/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Mentally ill people come from all belief systems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penn-jillette/mentally-ill-people-come-from-all-belief-systems/) [Penn Jillette](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penn-jillette/) > [“He kept quite for a minute or so but it felt like an hour. “That sounds like either you know a lot of diseased…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lili-frings/he-kept-quite-for-a-minute-or-so-but-it-felt-like-an-hour-that-sounds/) [Lili Frings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lili-frings/) > [I don't like to hold grudges, I don't like to talk ill of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-sean/i-don-t-like-to-hold-grudges-i-don-t-like-to-talk-ill-of-people/) [Jay Sean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-sean/) > [The tooth-ach is more ease then to deale with ill people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-herbert/the-tooth-ach-is-more-ease-then-to-deale-with-ill-people/) [George Herbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-herbert/) > [What a strange distance there is between ill people and well ones.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winifred-holtby/what-a-strange-distance-there-is-between-ill-people-and-well-ones/) [Winifred Holtby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winifred-holtby/) > [In a sense, having cancer takes you by the shoulders and shakes you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-edwards/in-a-sense-having-cancer-takes-you-by-the-shoulders-and-shakes-you/) [Elizabeth Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-edwards/) > [That was the worst part about having cancer, sometimes: The physical evidence of disease separates you from other people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/that-was-the-worst-part-about-having-cancer-sometimes-the-physical/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [Nothing I did contributed to me having cancer, so I can't sit back and say, 'Oh why me.' Why not me? Why does tragedy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-davis/nothing-i-did-contributed-to-me-having-cancer-so-i-can-t-sit-back-and/) [Eric Davis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-davis/) > [Having cancer gave me membership in an elite club I'd rather not belong to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilda-radner/having-cancer-gave-me-membership-in-an-elite-club-i-d-rather-not/) [Gilda Radner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gilda-radner/) > [“I summon the courage to go for what I want. Having cancer has left me less afraid than I used to be. I’m painfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/m-s-force/i-summon-the-courage-to-go-for-what-i-want-having-cancer-has-left-me/) [M.S. Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/m-s-force/) ## More American women quotes > [The work-family divide is the biggest issue for American women. But in some ways it's amazing how adjusted society has become to it. 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So I think that what she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-fees/she-was-bold-and-yet-she-was-reserved-she-was-sensual-and-girlish-but/) [Paul Fees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-fees/) > [African American women in particular have incredible buying power. Statistically, we go to the movies more than anyone. We have made Tyler Perrys career.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lynn-nottage/african-american-women-in-particular-have-incredible-buying-power/) [Lynn Nottage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lynn-nottage/) > [Ben Marcus has created an innovative and unflinching portrait of the turmoil of the human condition, providing the reader a most rare gift: something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/myla-goldberg/ben-marcus-has-created-an-innovative-and-unflinching-portrait-of-the/) [Myla Goldberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/myla-goldberg/) > [“Americans consume more cow’s milk and its products per person than most populations in the world. So Americans should have wonderfully strong bones, right?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-colin-campbell/americans-consume-more-cow-s-milk-and-its-products-per-person-than/) [T. Colin Campbell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-colin-campbell/) > [It's important for women to understand that it's bad enough that we don't make dollar-for-dollar what men do, but when you distill that down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nina-turner/it-s-important-for-women-to-understand-that-it-s-bad-enough-that-we/) [Nina Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nina-turner/) > [I want you to say dreadfully mad, funny things and make up songs and be--' The Will I fell in love with, she almost…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cassandra-clare/i-want-you-to-say-dreadfully-mad-funny-things-and-make-up-songs-and/) [Cassandra Clare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cassandra-clare/) > [The hearts of Afro-American women are too warm and too large for race hatred. 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We have elected an African-American president. We have the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathryn-stockett/i-have-never-been-more-proud-of-the-united-states-than-i-am-this-year/) [Kathryn Stockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathryn-stockett/) [Browse all 221 American women quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/american-women/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“People always feel sorry for you if you’re physically sick. It doesn’t matter if you have cancer or a cold. People always feel sorry for you and ask you if you’re okay. You need money? You got it! You want to meet a celebrity? Of course you can! You want to go to a convention, ComiCon, Disney World, anywhere in the world? You’re going to go there. That doesn’t happen when you’re mentally ill. If you’re mentally ill, people look at you differently. People roll their eyes when you talk about how sad you are. People won’t lift a finger to help you. “Get a job,” they’ll tell you. “Stop being so lazy. Be grateful you don’t have cancer. Get over it. It’s in the past. You have no reason to be sad.” And that isn’t how it works. But, of course, they wouldn’t know that. They’ve never been mentally ill, they don’t know how you can be so permanently damaged by your past that your present is painful and your future looks bleak. They don’t understand that most days getting out of bed is a chore. They don’t get that sometimes getting a job is out of the question because you’re just too damn afraid to even speak to anyone. That isn’t something you can just get over. But no one knows that because mental illnesses aren’t a real problem apparently. Apparently, the fact that over 800,000 million people die from suicide each year isn’t a real problem. Apparently, the fact that 15% of the adolescent population self-harms isn’t a real problem either. 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