About this collection

There are many people who experience invisible, and often undiagnosed, disabilities and conditions which affect their everyday lives. Having an invisible disability usually means that it is difficult to provide concrete, visible evidence for it and it can be perceived as ‘not real’ by other people. As such, these individuals can often feel not ‘believed’ or ‘inadequate’, and may feel the need to ‘mask’ their difficulties in order to fit in with others. By invisible conditions we mean conditions such as depression, anxiety, autism spectrum conditions, chronic pain conditions, dyslexia and other learning difficulties.

In this collection, we will (a) introduce and educate Young Minds about a range of invisible conditions, for example mental health conditions, autism and other lesser known invisible conditions such as chronic pain conditions; (b) discuss possible formal and informal support strategies for people experiencing these invisible conditions. Through these discussions, we hope that we can highlight some of the wider challenges that these people face, such as stigma and discrimination, and teach Young Minds how they can potentially support their friends and family who might be experiencing some of these conditions.

In terms of educating about different invisible conditions, this collection will outline what Young Minds could learn about what it means to have an invisible condition and how it can impact on relationships, education, cognitive functioning, communication, emotions, behaviours, and generally navigating everyday life.

Further, some people might be unwilling to seek help and share their concerns with others, in spite of being exposed to a number of physical, psychological and social challenges. The collection will thus also focus on potential ways of providing support, such as individual therapies, and in educational contexts mentoring and peer support initiatives to assist people with invisible conditions.

Overall, this collection would aim to have papers written on different invisible conditions and the concept of invisibility and associated issues would be central in all papers.