Hey friends—welcome back to Living Beyond the Invisible! I’m your host, Heather, and today I’m diving into something that hits close to home for so many of us: how invisible disabilities impact our mental health.

As always, I want to remind you that I’m not a medical professional—just someone living with invisible disabilities, sharing what I’ve learned through personal experience and research. This podcast is here to inform, encourage, and connect—not replace medical advice.

In this episode, I talk about the mental and emotional toll of living with conditions people can’t see. Things like fibromyalgia, CHD, autoimmune issues, chronic pain, and more. These illnesses might be invisible, but the weight they carry definitely isn’t.

In this episode, I share:

• Depression — how chronic illness changes your view of yourself and the world
• Anxiety — from health anxiety to fear of not being believed
• Medical PTSD — and my own experiences navigating trauma from surgeries and misdiagnoses
• Loneliness & Isolation — when your body keeps you from participating and people drift away
• Imposter Syndrome — those awful moments of doubt: "Am I really sick enough?"
• 
  

I also get personal and share part of my own journey, including surviving multiple open-heart surgeries, my battle with breast cancer, and how trauma from these experiences has shaped my mental health journey.

Whether you're living with invisible disabilities or love someone who is, I hope this episode reminds you that you're not alone—and that what you're feeling is real and valid.

Let’s Stay Connected!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100090200150738#

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/livingbeyondwalkwithheather

Email: [email protected]

Resources & Mentions:

• Journal of Affective Disorders (2021): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165032721001213
• Anxiety & Depression Association of America: https://adaa.org
• CDC Mental Health and Disability Data: https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/disabilityandhealth/features/mental-health-for-all.html
• PTSD in Chronic Illness (General Hospital Psychiatry, 2022): https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0163834321001081
• Disability and Rehabilitation Journal (2022): https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/idre20/current

Thanks so much for listening. If this episode resonated with you, feel free to share it, leave a review, or message me—I truly love hearing from you.

Until next time, keep walking your walk—you're doing better than you think. 💜

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