Festival of Debate: Making Invisible Illnesses Visible

In partnership with About M.E. & Festival of Debate we kicked off a conversation.

Trigger warnings: mental health, racism, discrimination and symptoms of illnesses.

In order to help make invisible illnesses visible there needs to be conversations around why so many people are misdiagnosed, dismissed and experience gaslighting for having medically unexplained symptoms.

At this years Festival of Debate we looked at the stigma and racism within society and the medical field. Having first hand experience like many others on assuming going to A&E will give you answers to symptoms you’ve never experienced, changed my life forever. There have been issues around getting a diagnosis. There are a lot of issues in getting an appointment and once that has been obtained, a pathways for diagnosis and treatment. There have been a few documentaries and films we would like to recommend to learn more about medical neglect: Take Care of Maya & Unrest

Picture credit: Ben from Festival of Debate

Thank you to all who attended,

Shehla.