Visible and Invisible Chronic Conditions

Having a chronic condition and being different from the general population can make a person vulnerable to stigmatization by those who do not have the illness. Those with chronic conditions cope with stigma using many strategies, including disclosing the condition and suffering further stigma, or attempting to conceal the condition or aspects of the condition and pass for “normal.”

People with a visible chronic condition (see a list of common signs of a visible condition below) are sometimes stereotyped by people who presume the person cannot participate in certain activities, even when the person says they can. Similarly, those with invisible illnesses (see a list of common invisible conditions below) who are unable to do something become frustrated when others refuse to believe that they have an illness or are unable to do what they say they cannot do.

Often times, stigma leads to public self-consciousness which is defined as the tendency to think about those self-aspects that are matters of public display, qualities of the self from which impressions are formed in other people’s eyes. In fact, in order to avoid social discomfort, some people with chronic conditions avoid public situations, and higher levels of activity restriction is strong predictor of depression.

Read more about “Coping With an Invisible Condition”.

Watch a video about Invisible Chronic Conditions.

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Common signs of a visible chronic conditions:

• Use of assistive devices for use of mobility: canes, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches
• Body appearance: loss of hair, changes in skin color, loss of a limb, scarring
• Changes in behavior: limping or other changes in gait, posture, sounds (like groaning), or facial expressions of pain or tension

Some common invisible chronic conditions include: Arthritis, asthma, brain injury, chronic fatigue syndrome, chronic pain, mental health conditions, sexually transmitted illnesses, Cushing’s syndrome, cystic fibrosis, diabetes, heart disease, lupus, Lyme disease, Crohn’s disease, Meniere’s disease, migraine, multiple sclerosis in the early stages, neurological and seizure disorders, osteoporosis, organ transplant, and Parkinson’s disease.