An invisible disability, also known as a hidden disability, is any disability (something that significantly affects your normal life activities) that isn't obvious to an onlooker. You may be surprised to learn that the majority of disabilities fall into this category.

Examples of invisible disabilities include diabetes, eating disorders, mental illness, chronic pain, most cancers, chemical sensitivities, asthma, allergies, brain damage, sleep disorders, and dozens of other common ailments.

People who suffer from invisible disabilities often don't get the support they need from family, friends, and even their doctors because they may look very healthy and still be severely disabled. Even worse, people may accuse the disabled person of "faking" their illness, exaggerating their symptoms, being lazy or shirking their responsibilities, and, in turn, the disabled person does not receive the help they may desperately need from others. They may begin to doubt themselves and, in turn, exacerbate their symptoms by attempting to act as healthy as people expect them to be based on their appearance.

Doctors may under-prescribe medications, especially drugs with a high incidence of abuse such as pain killers, because they may need to rely on the patient's word that a symptom is as severe as it is. Some patients with invisible physical ailments are referred by their doctor to a mental health professional, assuming the individual is faking or imagining their invisible disability--thereby the physical disease is not treated and is not likely to respond to psychiatric treatment, either.

Just like some people with visible disabilities, some people with invisible disabilities use service dogs to help them with their disability.