Invisible Pain

A few days ago on Facebook a few of my friends posted the following on their status:

YOU DON’T LOOK SICK!!! No I don’t. It’s hard to explain to someone when they have no clue. It’s a daily struggle feeling sick on the inside while you look fine on the outside. Please put this as your status for at least 1 hour if you or someone you know has an invisible illness (Anxiety, Bipolar, Depression , Diabetes, LUPUS, RA, Fibromyalgia, Crohns, MS, Endometriosis etc..) Never judge what you don’t understand.

I did repost this as my status, why, because I can completely relate to this statement.

One day at work last week, I had been out to get some lunch and was standing waiting for the lift to take me back up to my office on the 2nd floor, when one of the guys who works on the first floor of my office, who is in a wheelchair, can over to wait for the lift with me. As usual the lift was up at the second floor when I’m waiting for it on the ground floor, so we had to wait a few minutes for the lift to arrive. I don’t really know this guy in the wheelchair, although we have exchanged comments a few times over the months I’ve been based at this office. So as before, we exchanged a few comments, and then this guys said to me that “us fit people should go up the stairs and not use the lift”.

Don’t misunderstand me, he wasn’t being cheeky or anything, however it stung me, there was him in a wheelchair with an obvious disability while there was me, who to him looked perfectly fit and well…

Just as the statement that was posted on Facebook said, just because someone looks ok from the outside, does not mean they are ok on the inside. Some of us have had years of practice at hiding how much pain we’re in, so don’t judge people and how they feel, just because they look as though there’s nothing wrong with them.