Shining a Light in the Darkness

I intend for my blog to shine a light of hope for people with invisible chronic illnesses and disabilities and to enlighten healthy people, especially health care professionals, about our experiences. I’ll share more about my illness, lessons learned, and advocacy efforts in future posts. To start, here’s something that's been on my mind for years.

Healthy people may assume certain people are lazy, wimpy, stupid, thoughtless, or unconcerned about self-care, when in reality, they have something you cannot see: disabilities. For example, a person who is doesn’t hold the door open for you may have an illness that makes the action painful. A person who speaks slowly may have above-average intelligence but a neurological disorder that impedes speech. A person who refuses to help move a heavy table may wish to avoid breaking a brittle bone. It’s easy to assume people who look healthy are healthy, when in reality, many illnesses lack dramatic or even visible signs. So, healthy people, the next time you see someone easily getting out of a car in a handicapped parking space, don’t challenge him or her or damage the car if it has a handicap symbol on its license plate or hanging from its rearview mirror.

---

Darla Nagel is an editor and writing tutor who has an invisible chronic illness. She wants to help other patients and enlighten health care professionals about our experiences. If you’d like to be alerted whenever she writes a new post, sign up by e-mailing darla.nagel {a} gmail.com.