Invisible disabilities and how to represent them

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So, this is not a topic that I’ve seen around as it’s not a really known problem, but invisible disabilities exist and if you want to include them in your story, here are some facts about them.
(If you want to add more or to correct something feel free to comment below.)

What they are
The name speaks for itself. An invisible disability is an health problem that limit your everyday life, that’s chronic and that’s not “physically evident”. This can be (but not limited to, those are just some examples):

  1. Psychiatric diseases (such as anxiety, chronic depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disease and so on).
  2. Chronic diseases (such as HIV, diabetes, Crohn disease, Arthritis, Heart diseases and so on).
  3. Others: such as chronic migraines, fatigue, chronic pain and so on.

What not to say to an invisible disabled
“You don’t look sick!” Only because they don’t “look” sick it doesn’t mean that they’re not in pain. Acknowledge their feelings, don’t brush them off.
“Lucky you…” If a person can’t gain weight because of a disability, they’re not “lucky”. If someone has to rest a lot because of pain or fatigue, they’re not “lucky”. I know that this sounds stupid, but trust me, I heard it a lot :grimacing:

How to correctly represent it
If you want to represent any invisible disability in your story, I highly suggest you to research on the specific disease itself to see the impact it can have in everyone’s life. I personally have never seen a story with a diabetic person or with a person with chronic migraine, I think that it would be extremely interesting. Other than that make sure to always add personalities and interests, don’t let this be their only trait!

A couple of info
96% of the disabled people in the USA have an invisible disability. However, it’s not really talked about and the majority of the time, people live with it for the rest of their life instead of seeking medical treatments because “they don’t look sick”. It’s important to acknowledge your symptoms and to act to feel better, this person could be you or someone close to you!

Some articles
The Hidden Challenges of Invisible Disabilities
Invisible disabilities list and information

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BUMP!
This thread is really important to think about. You don’t know if someone is internally struggling. Like for example: depression, unless that person tells you, you probably won’t know unless they make it evident.

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I 100% agree :clap:

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Well said.

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This ^^ I have a couple invisible disabilities and I can’t even begin to count the number of times people have said this to me. Some seem to think it’s a compliment while others use it as a way of questioning the validity of your disabilities. Either way, it’s a really terrible feeling when someone says this to you.

I also can’t even begin to count how many times people have said this to me ^^ I’ve been struggling to keep my weight up for the past 8 years. I’ve had to see doctors, nutritionists, and dietitians and I’ve had to drink all the sh*tty tasting calorie booster shakes just to keep my weight from going dangerously low. This struggle is definitely not something to be jealous of.

Also this ^^ I’ve heard this way too many times. Staying home due to chronic pain definitely is not a vacation :roll_eyes:

Sorry for my rant on this. I’m just really passionate about (and fed up with) this stuff. Thank you for creating this thread! I think it’s going to spread a lot of awareness.

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Oh God, I felt this comment so much :weary:
I understand your frustration, I forgot to add the “Me too” comment when I say that something hurts like crazy. I still have friends that need to explain why chronic migraines isn’t like regular ones and that it won’t just go away like it does to others :woman_facepalming:t2::woman_facepalming:t2:
Feel free to add/correct anything! I’m happy that this thread is appreciated!!

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I love this thread!

Exactly! I mean, what if someone had the flu and I was like… “yOu DoN’t LoOk SiCk”
Because generally, flu doesn’t change your appearance. If I said that, everybody would look at me like, “jeez, why? Just believe them.”

Exactly this too. I have aquagenic urticaria and everybody’s like, “You’re SO lucky, you don’t have to go swimming in school! I wish I was allergic to water…”
You’re right, I can’t swim because it makes my skin feel like it’s burning off of my body and it gives me hives and rashes. It’s what I have to go through whenever it rains or whenever I have to take a shower. When I go to the beach or a pool party, everybody’s having fun and I have to stay on the sidelines watching.

Another one that I wanna mention is that chronic illnesses like… chronic fatigue is an actual illness that can really limit somebody’s life. They’re not just being lazy. They don’t have the energy to do all the things that a lot of people take for granted.

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I know that they’re trying to make you feel better but Jeez, I never saw someone go to this extent :grimacing:

True!! I’ll add it immediately!

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Yes! When you tell someone you have migraines they always say, “oh, yeah, I have a headache too.”

Definitely not the same thing at all :roll_eyes::joy:

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Thanks for this thread! :raised_hands:

Thankfully, the worst of my body’s bullshit is migraines, and through the wonderful magic of ibuprofen, I get by, I’ve never had to take a day off school/work because of them or anything. Still awful, but the cards I was dealt could’ve been worse. I’m glad I haven’t really received any social stigma about it, because ibuprofen is used so commonly and works so well, no one bats an eye when I take one and the migraine is gone before it hits its peak. Well, the only person who gave me shit about it was my grandma, who doesn’t trust ‘big ibuprofen’ and would rather I just wait it out until I vomit, but she’s just mean in general, an outlier.

But yeah, migraines without aura run in my family not the aforementioned grandma, obviously. Feel free to DM me any questions if you plan on including it in your story and want someone to ask about it. :wave: I’m just one example, but I can describe things like the exact sensation, avoidance of migraine triggers, how I know one is coming, etc. It’s nothing private (for me, anyway), so don’t be shy if you’re curious haha. :+1:

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Love this post, I suffer from migraines, they are treated with tablets now, but when I get them I’m pretty much useless. Being sick etc and have problems with my eyes when it happens. It is not nice. I’m glad that we can guide people who dont have these illnesses to represent them as well as researching the illness too :two_hearts:

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I’m so happy that you found at least something that releases the pain a bit!!

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I get really bad migraines! I don’t get any aura with them but the pain is unbearable, I can’t stand any light, sound or smells and I can hardly stand during a very bad one, and every little movement results in either more pain or vomiting so I end up vomiting more because I need to move because I need to vomit. I used to get them a couple times a month sometimes a little less if I’m lucky. As I’ve grown and gotten treatment they are a lot less frequent.

In a particular place I worked at years ago I started to get migraines bad and they would send me home. I then found that people working there started to make fun of me “Oh no I’ve got a bit of a headache, I need to go home.” A few weeks later one of them came in and couldn’t stop apologising enough. Turns out she fell ill on the weekend and had to have a doctor out… it was a migraine

Sorry for the info there but it’s true!

I also have epilepsy but because I don’t “fit” loose conciseness or zone out as such people often tell me that “It can’t be epilepsy.” … I’m sorry I didn’t know you were a qualified neurologist.

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I have Depression and chronic headaches. My headaches turn in to migraines and i have so many other symptoms that stop me from doing simple things like walking or even going outside. It’s terrible worse than my Depression I need to see a neurologist soon to get help. The only thing sort of helping me get through every day is Naproxen Sodium. I am not able to do lots I also have been fainting and having trouble breathing recently. It’s just hard :persevere:.

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Oh my god same!! I also have chronic migraines and i’m on medication it’t not doing much tbh.

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I know it sucks :pensive:

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Bump. I want to include some but I am not sure where or who they’d for with. Ooh-
Maybe with my character Asetha, who’s very outgoing, and bold but maybe she has some confident related illness or something…help!

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Nice thread, I love these types.
Mental illness in general is very poorly represented.

I’ve had obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) since I was 3 and it’s so misrepresented and not understood. People don’t understand it and it is used commonly as an adjective.
People often think that if they are neat they have OCD. It’s called a disorder/mental illness for a reason. It’s debilitating.
Also having a bit of anxiety from time to time doesn’t mean you have an anxiety disorder. (It’s the extent to which the anxiety is.)
These can both hinder a person’s quality of life.

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OCD is becoming a trend and it’s definitely dehumanizing the disorder. I agree that it needs a better representation, hopefully now someone will accurately represent it

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Yeah. I hope more people will represent it accurately. I have a couple stories about it.

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