Disability doesn’t mean being in a wheelchair. Sick people aren’t always in a hospital bed.
In fact, most people suffering chronic illness don’t look poorly at all. Not on the outside, at least.
Because, while appearing perfectly healthy, nearly 50 per cent of us are battling an ‘invisible illness’, with no outward signs.
Yet the symptoms of these hidden illnesses are highly debilitating and desperately misunderstood.
Fibromyalgia, ME, asthma, Crohn’s Disease, auto-immune conditions, anxiety, bipolar, depression, diabetes, lupus, arthritis, epilepsy and autism, are just a few of these so-called invisible illnesses.
Stigma
Because sufferers look healthy, it can leave friends and family struggling to empathise, or even doubting there is anything wrong at all.
Sufferers may face stigma, are branded hypochondriacs, lazy, even crazy.
Parking in a disabled bay can…