National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week held September 10-16 for 2007, is an outreach to increase awareness that living with an invisible illness can be emotional challenge—as well as physical—and that more people than we would imagine are suffering silently.
Respondents answered the survey at http://www.invisibleillness.com and reported the following other annoying comments people tend to make:
* “Your illness is caused by stress.” (14.22%)
* “If you stopped thinking about it and went back to work…” (12.42%)
* “You can’t be in that much pain. Maybe you just want attention.” (10.95%)
* “Just pray harder.” (9.15%)
National Invisible Chronic Illness Awareness Week’s web site has articles, resources and will feature twenty online seminars during Sept 10-14, 2007. Guests include Maureen Pratt, author of “Peace in the Storm: Meditations on Chronic Pain and Illness” and Jenni Prokopy, founder of ChronicBabe.com. Outreach materials include t-shirts, silicone awareness bracelets and rack cards, appropriate for support groups or the work place state what to say and not say to a chronically ill person.
The theme for 2007’s invisible illness week campaign is “Living with invisible illness is a roller coaster. Help a friend hold on!”
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