Invisible Illness Week (or National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week if you’re not into the whole brevity thing) begins on Monday September 13th.
Created by Lisa Copen (who lives with rheumatoid arthritis and fibromyalgia) it has been an annual awareness event since 2002. Its purpose is to educate people on the wide-spread nature of chronic invisible illness. Believe it or not, those with chronic conditions make up half the population of North America. However, due to the invisible nature of these illnesses, most of us are simply unaware of the scope of this problem and the resources that are out there that can help.
Here is the theme for 2010:
Thousands of people around the world are participating by leaving encouraging sticky notes anywhere they think of, from bathroom mirrors and community bulletin boards, to inside of envelopes when they pay their bills. With nearly 1 in 2 people living with a chronic condition such as diabetes, arthritis, cancer, or fibromyalgia, about 96% of illnesses are invisible. The hope of the people involved at National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is to remind people that although they may feel like they are alone in their pain, there are people who do care and understand the unspoken language of invisible illness.
As we lead up to the 13th, I would invite everyone who hasn’t done so to download my free e-book – The Invisible Chain. It is a 19 page pdf that looks at the four realities that people with invisible illness must face in life. It also examines why our society finds it difficult to understand these illnesses.
Please feel free to distribute this e-book to anyone you think may benefit from it.
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National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week is an annual event that features a free virtual conference online 9/13-17 with speakers each morning 10:30 – 12 USA Pacific time. There are a variety of ways a person can get involved including blogging for the cause, completing the Meme “30 Things You May Not Know About My Invisible Illness”, or joining the campaign on Facebook. Click on our sidebar link for more information.
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