The Challenges of Living with an Invisible Illness
Living with a chronic condition like Rheumatoid Arthritis comes with a variety of challenges, one of the biggest ones being that RA is essentially an "invisible illness". The pain, the stiffness, the fatigue, are just some of the symptoms that may wreak havoc in the life of the person living with RA, but might not be apparent to the people around them, leading to naive and misunderstood comments and comparisons like "But you don't look sick!" and "My grandmother has arthritis too".
The invisible nature of RA
A repercussion of "invisible" nature of RA could also translate to a long and often frustrating diagnosis, and subsequently a delay in beginning treatment.
All of this typically translates to an unfavorable impact on the quality of life, ability to sleep, ability to work, ability to participate in physical exercise and activities, and also an ability to perform household activities and duties.
But, the people living with RA are a resilient bunch! They choose not to be defeated by this condition and take all the steps they can to live the best life possible!
These findings are part of the recently concluded Rheumatoid Arthritis in America 2016.
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