I'm looking for a noun to suffix to a condition to refer to the person who has that condition.
Existing words are like:
Cancer patients are subject to chemotherapy which causes them to lose their hair.
The problem with patient is that a patient is someone in the care of a health service, whereas I'm wanting to refer to people who are living with that condition in general.
Suffererers of depression often find that they can not get themselves out of bed in the morning, they feel paralysed.
Sufferer is a loaded term, I don't want to imply that living with the condition is a negative experience.
Best Answer
The phrase person with x or person dealing with x is often used. The terms patient, victim, sufferer and the like all have a significantly negative and helpless connotation that many of us reject. Even survivor is tinged with victimhood that many reject.
We are not defined by our diseases, but are people who happen to be living with (and managing) them.