OPINION: Remember that disabilities can be invisible - Sophie Mei Lan

Trapped inside a small bedsit, on your own, self-isolating, while the world is whizzing around outside your home, people laughing, chatting, and moving.

A friend who notices that they haven’t seen you for a while tries to visit you but they’re not sure how to help and you’re not sure if they can help either.

I am not talking about lockdown nor am I alluding to the pandemic, I am simply using recent events to demonstrate what my invisible illness can feel like. I am helping you to visualise it, using something familiar, because at times a lot of us, professionals included, can forget that some disabilities are ‘invisible.’

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From mental health problems to autism and epilepsy there are an estimated 14.1 million people with a disability in the UK. It is thought that 96 per cent of illnesses are ‘invisible,’ yet they are still too often misunderstood, which leads to shame, stigma and further isolation, as well as the individual themselves not identifying their health problem.

Due to trauma as a child, my mental health problems were diagnosed early on, but my chronic fatigue wasn’t recognised until lockdown.

A fellow mental health advocate who also suffers from anxiety, Jodie Hill of Thrive Law, told me in my Recovery Road podcast that she too hadn’t been diagnosed until lockdown.

Jodie, 31, who recently got diagnosed with Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), said: “Something didn’t feel right. I had so much more time alone with my own thoughts and it prompted me to explore further what was happening inside my brain.”

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Jodie describes her ADHD as “as a thousand thoughts at once all wanting attention.

“It is so distracting and overwhelming.”

When I studied about bipolar disorder, I discovered a powerful Ted Talk presentation described the two contrasting episodes involved with the disability as wearing ‘mismatched shoes’ - a slipper on one foot and a stiletto on the other.

The extreme ‘high’ of mania is the stiletto and the extreme ‘low’ of depression is the slipper.

When it comes to a range of conditions, it is so important that we get support when it is needed, otherwise it can lead to unhealthy coping mechanisms such as using food, alcohol, or any self-harm for that matter, to try and ‘fix’ how we are feeling in the moment. In many ways self-harm can be a physical manifestation of what we feel inside.

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The problem is that all these ‘plasters’ result in us suffering from an increasing amount of ill health in the long-run as well as further impacting our carers.

Fortunately, awareness is improving around hidden disabilities and it is heartening to see disabled toilet signs stating “not every disability is visible,” to remind people that disability is diverse.

Imagine one day, however, if people would challenge their own prejudice around what disability looks like and the person with the invisible illness did not need to wear a badge or lanyard declaring their disability to stave off judgement and abuse.

It is challenging enough for the person to navigate their own illness without having to justify basic rights.

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