Believe someone about their own symptoms
People with invisible illness spend years being doubted, most often by people who mean well.
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The BeingKind editorsPublished How this is written
Why it lands
The commonest response to an invisible condition is subtle disbelief — you look well, my aunt had that and she was fine, have you tried yoga. Each instance is small and the accumulation is enormous, and it is a large part of why people put off going back to a doctor. Simply accepting someone's account of their own body, without amendment, is rarer than it should be and immediately noticeable.
How
Say “that sounds hard” and stop. Do not offer a remedy, compare it to someone else's case, or note how well they look. If they want advice they will ask for it.
Answer if you want. It changes which ideas are shown first.
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