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Having any form of illness is bad enough, but having an illness where you don't necessarily 'look' ill adds a whole new dimension to the problems. Invisible Illnesses are those where others don't instantly know that you have an illness. This means you don't necessarily use a walking stick or a wheelchair, or have any marks on your body that others would see, or have a big sticker on your forehead saying 'yes, i am ill!' Because of this and the fact that you are not necessarily tucked up in bed all the time, people tend to assume that you are perfectly healthy and have either recovered from whatever was ailing you, or you were never ill in the first place and are/were just being lazy. Illnesses that can have this 'invisible' effect are those such as Myalgic Encephalopathy (ME)/Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS); Fibromyalgia (FMS); Asthma; Arthritis; Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Multiple Sclerosis, Crohn's Disease, Coeliac Disease, and mental illnesses and problems such as Panic Disorders, Depression, Phobias, Manic Depression/Bipolar disorder, Anxiety, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), and many others. There are far too many invisible illnesses for me to mention here, so I will just say that this website is to provide support and friendship to all those with an invisible illness, whether I have mentioned it or not - everybody is welcome, as are the friends and family of those who are affected. The forum here is for you to talk about whatever aspects of the disease you feel you need to talk about... as well as for general chat, activities, and whatever else you want to chat about. Please send a private message to the moderator if you have any problems. All that remains to be said is that you are not invisible here! Please make the most of our facilities, and relax. This site is currently still under construction. Please could you be patient while we are making things work correctly. Some of the pages still have no content, but there are some that are up and running. Please keep checking back to see which pages are working. We hope you like the site! Xiaoqi and Lauranat |