{"id":1865,"date":"2023-04-17T15:37:40","date_gmt":"2023-04-17T15:37:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/?p=1865"},"modified":"2025-04-10T00:29:00","modified_gmt":"2025-04-10T00:29:00","slug":"got-an-invisible-illness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/got-an-invisible-illness\/","title":{"rendered":"Got An \u201cInvisible Illness?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-image alignwide uagb-block-26bc9e1c wp-block-uagb-image--layout-default wp-block-uagb-image--effect-static wp-block-uagb-image--align-wide\"><figure class=\"wp-block-uagb-image__figure\"><img decoding=\"async\" srcset=\"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/AdobeStock_149233982-1024x913.jpeg \" sizes=\"(max-width: 480px) 150px\" src=\"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/04\/AdobeStock_149233982-1024x913.jpeg\" alt=\"\" class=\"uag-image-1874\" width=\"1024\" height=\"913\" title=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" role=\"img\"\/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:49px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cYou Look Fine To Me!\u201d<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>What is it like to live with an invisible illness? It\u2019s different from living with something that everyone around you can plainly see. If you break your leg and you\u2019ve got a cast on, that is at least a clue that you might be in some pain, that your life is probably very different then it used to be before the broken leg, and that you might appreciate some sensitivity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What\u2019s Invisible?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>An \u201cinvisible illness\u201d is a disorder\u2026 a medical condition or a mental health disorder\u2026that is not obvious to others. Examples of invisible illnesses include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Chronic pain<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Chronic fatigue syndrome<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Fibromyalgia<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Lupus<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Interstitial Cystitis<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Crohn\u2019s disease<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rheumatoid&nbsp;arthritis<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Depression, and other&nbsp;mental health issues<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>On a bad day, a person\u2019s symptoms might be noticeable, but on a good day, no one would ever&nbsp;know the person suffers from a disorder they have&nbsp;to manage every single day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Some Similarities<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>Although different illnesses may have different symptoms, almost all invisible illnesses include the symptoms of pain, fatigue, problems with sleep and appetite, sensory sensitivity, and feeling emotionally overwhelmed. In addition, most people with an invisible illness have suffered from it for months to years before being correctly diagnosed, due to others under-estimating how sick they are and because the person with the illness also thinks since they \u201clook okay\u201d on the outside, they must be exaggerating&nbsp;how bad they feel on the inside.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Don\u2019t They Show It?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>People with invisible illnesses often paste a smile on their faces when they leave their homes, so others won\u2019t know they are in severe pain or depressed or have only gotten 3 hours of sleep. They have learned over time that when&nbsp;people ask \u201cHow are you?\u201d, they don\u2019t&nbsp;<strong><em>really&nbsp;<\/em><\/strong>want to know the answer if it isn\u2019t \u201cFine!\u201d They may also be afraid of losing their jobs and becoming a burden to friends and family. They just put forth the best face they can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">How Can You Help?<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>No matter how many \u201cbad days\u201d you\u2019ve had, if you have never been diagnosed with severe depression or chronic pain, you have no idea what it is like to&nbsp;try to function every day with it. Save any advice or opinions you have, and instead, ask if there is anything you can do to help\u2026 and then ask again, and again, and again. It\u2019s the only way the person with the invisible illness will begin&nbsp;to believe you really do mean it. Then listen,&nbsp;and follow through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It takes a village to remain functional when your body or your mind decides to check out on you. Try to be a helpful neighbor, not the village idiot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\">What To Do If You Have One<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<p>If you are managing an invisible illness, the first thing you need to do is learn everything you can about your illness and join a support group (online or in your community), so you will know you are not alone in this experience. You don\u2019t have to reinvent the wheel to figure out how to manage pain or depression\u2026 others have been where you are and found ways out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the best online sites to check out is this one: &nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.butyoudontlooksick.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">But You Don\u2019t Look Sick.com<\/a>. You can manage an invisible illness with help. You are not invisible, even if your suffering sometimes is. You deserve all the help that\u2019s&nbsp;out there!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:38px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Dr<\/em>.&nbsp;<em>Anita Sanz<\/em>, PhD, Psychologist<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-uagb-container uagb-block-24782f80 alignfull uagb-is-root-container\"><div class=\"uagb-container-inner-blocks-wrap\"><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:38px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:38px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n<form role=\"search\" method=\"get\" action=\"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/\" class=\"wp-block-search__button-outside wp-block-search__text-button wp-block-search\"    ><label class=\"wp-block-search__label\" for=\"wp-block-search__input-1\" >Search<\/label><div class=\"wp-block-search__inside-wrapper\" ><input class=\"wp-block-search__input\" id=\"wp-block-search__input-1\" placeholder=\"\" value=\"\" type=\"search\" name=\"s\" required \/><button aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"wp-block-search__button wp-element-button\" type=\"submit\" >Search<\/button><\/div><\/form>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cYou Look Fine To Me!\u201d What is it like to live with an invisible illness? It\u2019s different from living with something that everyone around you can plainly see. If you break your leg and you\u2019ve got a cast on, that is at least a clue that you might be in some pain, that your life [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1874,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,22],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-1865","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-well-being","category-health","tag-health"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1865"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4143,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1865\/revisions\/4143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1874"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1865"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1865"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anitasanz.com\/wp-dev\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1865"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}