It’s a very natural progression - an emergent behavior from an aversion to empathy so it’s pretty much pervasive. Generally people think you’re faking it because you look healthy and it’s almost a dare to say if it was really as bad as you’d say surely you’d just prefer to die.

My favorite examples are from people who believe they have a cure all, going for walks, vitamin C injections etc. Then when let them know it doesn’t work, you’ve tried it, it makes you sicker etc they’ll blame you for not doing it right and being difficult on purpose.

It really doesn’t help when the state is quick to diagnose people with hypochondria, and there is the catch-22 of if didn’t manage to fill out the proper forms you don’t have the condition but if you did then that’s a sign you don’t have the condition. And even if you are correctly diagnosed they don’t help, the doctors will push their pet cures like exercise. My aunt had what little quality of life she had left destroyed by doctors requiring her to exercise to keep her disability.

If you complain about a lack of disability support potentially sending you homeless they think they’re helping by suggesting another option you may not have thought of.

I’m very fortunate that I’m well off enough I don’t have to deal with the state and I manage my own health much better than the doctors could. But it happens to people I know and in many cases people who do take up the option do let others know that the reason they’re doing it is because they can’t afford to live anymore and homelessness is practically a death sentence anyway.

And even worse there are a number of fairly effective treatments but few people know about them because of the way medical science works. I was early on the use of GLP1-As and thank goodness that’s now going widespread in patient communities and even doctors - though I think doses should be kept very low. Off label use of GLP1-As for autoimmune disorders, including many mental health issues, is going to be absolutely huge.