The Suffering Saga

The issue:  respect for "hidden disabilities".

The disability: chronic daily headache, migraine with and without aura, frequent neurological impairment, restless legs syndrome (as well as hypothyroidism and possibly a parathyroid condition currently being investigated).

The question: why is society so quick to reject the validity of a pain condition?

I have suffered from migraine since age 12.  I am now in my thirties.  There is a lot of judgement and disbelief from the general public regarding my illness.  Some people have suggested I bring it on myself via stress or worry.  However, several doctors have deduced I suffer from a neurological and vascular condition which result in the symptoms.

Pain cannot be measured or tested.  The patient's description or statements is all the doctor can rely on.  Pain doesn't show up on an x-ray or blood test.  So society is often disbelieving of the condition.

Luckily the government understood the disease with documentation from my neurologist, whom I see once a month.

The neurological effects include vision disruption, nausea, loss of sensation or tingling-numbness in my hands, lips, and tongue; inability to speak, and then severe pain.  These symptoms obviously interrupt normal day-to-day tasks, making it hard to function outside the home.

My course of treatment? Several drugs with specific roles.  In the big picture I take 5 daily medications and then an array of "as needed" drugs for the episodic severe pain.

Back to the question: why is it so hard to convince one of my hidden disability?