If you’ve been in a car crash, chances are you are banged up. Bruises scream to be noticed. You may have broken a bone and are forced to wear a cast.

This is a type of visible, limited disability. By limited, I mean your chances of complete recovery are very good.

Others see from your cast and bandages that you hurt; that you are currently unable to perform your usual duties. They make allowances for your condition and commiserate with you.

But say that brace on your neck doesn’t help you fully recover from whiplash. Suppose a pinched nerve in your neck prevents you from ever raising your arms above your shoulders again. Or you are left with permanent weakness in one hand. Or that you suffer permanent pain in your neck and shoulders the rest of your life?

People have a short sympathy span. They are happy to help you out for a few days or even weeks if they can see physical evidence of your disability.

But even if your arm is in a cast and elevated because of a broken arm and dislocated shoulder, others’ patience generally grows thin before the healing period ends.

This is human nature. We all have egos. We all have our own problems and duties. Most of us accept that our own needs have to be shelved for occasional, time-limited reasons, but most of us are unable to empathize with someone whose disabilities are unseen and may go on for months or years.

Here are five examples of Unseen Disabilities and some of the ways they affect the sufferer and those around them.

Arthritis

The high school football injury that comes back to haunt you in the form of osteoarthritis in middle age.

Most older adults have some level of arthritis. Arthritis sufferers often claim to be able to “feel” the change in weather. Pain prevents them from opening jars, bending down to get something off the floor or stretching to reach an item on an upper shelf.

Older arthritis sufferers tend to get sympathy and help from family and friends in dealing with their physical limitations.

Younger arthritis sufferers are not so lucky. Their complaints are met with skepticism. Their suffering is often met with comments like: “It’s not that bad.” “It’s all in your head.” “Stop being a baby.” “Learn to deal with it.”

With the exception of rheumatoid arthritis, arthritis cannot be seen, but we all accept that arthritis exists.

Chronic Back Pain

There are so many causes of chronic back pain and symptoms they would be impossible to cover here.

Chronic back pain is real but meets with skepticism and aggravation because it is another invisible disability. Many people have sustained temporary back injury and recovered, which makes them suspicious of anyone who continually complains about their back pain or refuses to perform specific physical activities for fear of triggering a spasm.

Apply all the comments made to middle aged arthritis sufferers and add hypochondriac, deadbeat, and lazy to them.

Cramps

Some women experience severe cramping with their monthly cycle. Some cramping can be traced to physical causes that can be alleviated by medical intervention. Other times doctors cannot discover their cause.

The person who suffers this unseen pain from an unseen cause is just as disabled from her pain as a person whose pain can be traced to causes observed on an x-ray.

Both women generally receive the same kind of skepticism as middle aged arthritis suffers because the pain they suffer prevents them from performing duties others expect.

Depression

Depression is thought to be a chemical imbalance in the brain. Thus, many prescriptions have been developed for patients with depression.

People with depression fail to perform activities associated with life. They either stop eating or they don’t stop eating. They have little interest in personal hygiene and their appearance or in the cleanliness and appearance of their surroundings.

Often they lose interest in the people around them. They are unable to offer mental or physical support to those around them.

Generally, they have one or two people in their social network that remain in contact with them, but sympathy in the workplace is uncommon. Usually they fall so far behind in their duties and miss so much work they are fired.

Depression, like the other examples of invisible disabilities, isn’t really unseen. People in a long-term relationship with the sufferer see changes in behavior and attitude. Most people have experienced the feelings of helplessness associated with depression at sometime in their life.

Federal and state governments do offer disability compensation to those who have been diagnosed with long term and who cannot be helped by medical intervention.

Fibromyalgia

This debilitating condition is sometimes classified as a form of arthritis or as an autoimmune disease. No one really knows.

Fibromyalgia patients are often disbelieved by their physicians so it is no wonder they get little sympathy and support from people in their social circle.

Federal and state governments recognize fibromyalgia as a real medical condition and award disability compensation to sufferers.

In conclusion

I hope this sampling gives you a better understanding of the realities of invisible disabilities. I did not include a host of other real disabilities that cannot be seen such as types of cancer, migraines, neuroses, and mental and acuity disorders that prevent victims from living their lives to the fullest.

Invisible disabilities are just as real as broken legs and can persist for decades or a lifetime. These disabilities are a major burden to the victim because in addition to the symptoms suffered from their unseen complaint they also endure the skepticism and lack of support from coworkers, family and friends.