When you look healthy but have a chronic illness, it can be difficult for other people to understand your daily struggles. How can they? Unless they are in your body and experience life as you know it, they have no idea what your life is like, let alone have any compassion for what you are going through.

That’s where online communities and blogging specifically have made a huge difference for people with “invisible illnesses.” It provides a place to share your challenges, learn from others facing the same battles and most importantly—escape the feeling of being alone by knowing that others truly understand your struggles.

When it comes to bloggers with passion, “e-patient bloggers” who share about their illness journeys, have changed how people find encouragement for living with their illness. A recent study found that 41% of e-patients have read someone else’s commentary or experience about health or medical issues on an online news group, website or blog, and 38% say it changed the way they cope with a chronic condition or manage pain.

Through National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week activities, you can share your experiences of living with an invisible illness. Your participation will help build a greater understanding and appreciation of your daily reality.

Sobering Statistics

• Nearly 1 in 2 people have a chronic condition. Of those, approximately 96% have an illness that is invisible.
• 60% of people with a chronic illness are between the ages of 18 and 64.
• 90% of seniors have at least one chronic disease and 77% have two or more chronic diseases.

Source:

Invisible Illness Week