But you don't look sick...

Attention seeker. Hypochondriac. Faker.

Have you ever been called these words? What about called someone one of them? Did a diagnosis come later to prove these words wrong? Have you ever wondered how someone could be sick or have an ailment that couldn’t be seen? How could something so painful be invisible?

Invisible illnesses are just that. Invisible. Sometimes these illnesses can so painful that the person who suffers feels like life isn’t worth continuing. I know, what could make a person with a diagnosable illness think that way? When the doctors step around the diagnosis and don’t treat their patient. Drugs are rarely handed out because doctors don’t want their patients becoming addicted. What many don’t know is these drugs just mask the pain and don’t do anything for the illness. How can opioids help a person with lupus? It doesn’t treat the disease, it masks symptoms temporarily. Antidepressants, how are those going to help a person want to escape the pain?

Doctor after doctor, diagnosis after diagnosis, it is a struggle to be treated. Emergency room? Drug seeker. People with invisible illnesses struggle to be treated with the care and compassion they deserve because their illness is not visible on a scan like a broken bone. Doctors only look for what can be physically explained. A broken bone? They got you. Doctors can diagnose and treat what they understand. Even having a handicap placard or license plate is looked down upon without a visible condition or wheelchair. Have a service animal? Again better be able to show that the animal is needed.

What people don’t see is the days that showers are impossible. The days where it takes every bit of energy just to get out of bed. No one sees the days when that service animal that is sneered at in public is the only support at

home when the tears just won’t stop. It is a matter of perception. It is a hidden shame. It is going in public and refusing to bring your service animal or use the handicap parking spot for fear of being judged. It is leaning on a cart, in agonizing pain, instead of using the motorized cart because of the looks.

No one can see the internal battle and it is different for each person. The pain scale used at the doctor cannot be used to compare one persons illness to another. It is a matter of understanding and supporting each other. It is ending the stigma around invisible illnesses. It is supporting one another. It is community.

You are not faking it. You are not an attention seeker. You are not a hypochondriac. You are loved.

#endthestigma #awareness #invisibleillness #Blog