Most people understand that someone may need more space or more help when they walk into a room with a cane and dark glasses or enter in a wheelchair. Respect and help can aid these individuals, but it does little to help those who live every day with a disability that no one sees. Unseen disabilities come in many forms, but the struggle is similar for anyone who lives their life with one. Who is Affected About 61 million Americans live with disabilities, and not all of them are easy to identify visually. When people think of invisible disabilities they may think only of mental or emotional issues like anxiety or PTSD. Those conditions are a part of the statistic, but there are also many physical illnesses. An example of an invisible disability includes balance issues like extreme vertigo. Dizziness and poor balance can cause people to fall easily or struggle to stay mobile. Arthritis and injuries to the joints as well as injuries to the muscles and tendons can cause chronic pain and near immobilization despite the appearance of good health. The severity of chronic respiratory conditions like COPD and asthma can come and go in an instant and make someone who was seemingly able-bodied one moment to become helpless the next. How it Hurts Too often bystanders only accept obvious disabilities. People with unseen disabilities may become a target of abuse when they park in handicapped spaces or take too long to walk through a store aisle. Someone may need a cane to get around one day but move freely the next. The change in mobility can lead others to believe they have faked an injury, and this could affect employment or disability benefits. How to Help Healthy individuals need to avoid the desire to try and catch people in a lie. Someone with an invisible disability should not have to hand out copies of their medical records to prove their pain. Reports of well-meaning citizens harassing people with invisible disabilities as they park in handicap spaces abound. The best option is to trust that a handicap parking placard is in use legally. Allow the police to deal with those that cheat. Avoid passing judgment on people that seem healthy one day and sick the next. Learn more about invisible disabilities and have more patience with everyone. It is not always possible to know how someone else feels just by how they look.