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You’ve probably heard of chronic invisible illness before, maybe from another chronically ill friend or family member, or maybe from the ever-increasing number of articles about it in your Facebook feed. 

Maybe you’ve even been diagnosed with one of these mysterious conditions yourself and are looking to learn more about what it means to live with leaden paralysis or some other lesser known term. But how do you explain your chronic invisible illness to someone who’s never heard of it? What other terms are out there that they should know?

What Is Invisible Illness?

Physiologically, an invisible disease is any ailment that's not readily apparent. It can be hard to know how to support people with invisible illnesses, but having a basic understanding of what they are can help you understand why some things may be harder for them than others. 

Sometimes, the simplest barrier between ourselves and

'It's Always In Your Head' - That's Bullshit

It’s Always In Your Head... That’s Bullshit. Evidence shows that depression and chronic fatigue are proven physiological ailments, not imaginary problems conjured up by self-indulgent whiners. So stop telling people with these disorders to just cheer up or think positive. It ain’t that easy.

I Just Feel So Tired All The Time

With a chronic illness, you feel like you just can’t seem to get back on your feet. Your symptoms leave you chronically exhausted and weighed down by leaden paralysis. That is, despite having no physical injuries or health problems and waking up feeling okay, you feel as if an unseen weight is dragging you down. The exhaustion is severe and constant; it's not something that goes away with proper sleep. You simply do not have enough energy at all times of day.

I Can't Get Out Of Bed

I'm tired of seeing hope, encouragement and empowerment on social media used as a panacea for chronic invisible illness. Chronic illnesses are not just inconvenient or hard to deal with we're talking about some people who never cycle out of leaden paralysis, live in bed all day, need full time care from partners family members, can't leave their house etc.

Palliative Care

One of those lesser-known terms that’s showing up in more and more research on chronic illness is palliative care. This type of care focuses on managing symptoms (such as depression, anxiety, pain) that often coexist with disease. The goal is to maintain quality of life—because when it comes to persistent depression and other invisible illnesses, leaden paralysis may just be a less-familiar term for an already not-so-well-understood phenomenon.

What happens if we all had Depression?

That’s what a study led by Joseph Carpenter, an assistant professor of psychological sciences at Kent State University, aimed to find out. The scientists had people play 20 rounds of solitaire (so as not to be distracted by anyone else) while hooked up to sensors that measured their heart rate and skin temperature. 

According to data collected from 134 participants, if everyone were depressed, even a little bit—and it didn’t matter why they were depressed—the world would be a leaden place. The planet’s temperature would drop about 6 degrees Fahrenheit (3 degrees Celsius), for one thing. It might also rain more often, since people tend to feel down when there are clouds in the sky, Carpenter said.

Whelp, with that trippy little note, I'll leave you to pontificate the importance of mental health, especially in regard to the "folk soul" (my own word mix) of the world as a single, living entity, populated by millions and billions of sad little people all hurrying around staring at glowing tiny cards or glowing flat posters that hand on walls. 

Trippy.