‘You don’t look sick’ – it’s a phrase that human beings with invisible illnesses and disabilities pay attention all of the time due to the fact human beings can’t see their circumstance. It’s additionally the call of our weekly collection. Every week, we talk to someone with a hidden condition about the signs and symptoms they stay with, the support they have got and the judgment they face while they are out and approximately because of they appearance healthful. Robyn Moore, 43, from Hampshire, has publish-stressful stress disorder – an anxiety disorder resulting from experiencing very hard events. Those with the circumstance frequently revel in nightmares, flashbacks and physical signs and symptoms like an ache, sweating, feeling unwell or trembling. Robyn becomes recognized with the circumstance in 2016 however it becomes triggered by using a sexual assault a few years earlier than. She suffered from flashbacks, started out to withdraw from life and struggled to address her signs and symptoms.
Because her condition is an intellectual infection, she says human beings don’t continually apprehend how a great deal of an impact it has – and that made it more difficult to get assist. ‘I’ve been instructed that I am an attention seeker and had been asked numerous instances “why is she continually crying and withdrawn?”‘she says. ‘It made me sense very uncomfortable and I felt like I needed to hold the whole thing to myself and bottle up my emotions. ‘Just because there are scars that are not visibly visible, does now not imply that they’re now not there. ‘Stigma stopped me from locating help for plenty, many years however remedy, speaking, tenderness and playing tennis modified all of that.’ The immigration officer turned into recognized in 2016 as buddies and circle of relatives had been worried about her mental fitness and supported her with getting help. She had signs for decades, following the disturbing attack, but became too ashamed to speak approximately them and with the aid of maintaining them bottled up, she discovered that they got worse. She says: ‘Ultimately, I became too ashamed to speak approximately my signs or what had happened to me, and by using no longer doing so I started to enjoy flashbacks, became withdrawn, on my own and just desired to surrender.
‘For the long term I didn’t want to deal with it and I have become very remoted. When I started to experience flashbacks, I have become very down. ‘Sadly my condition became worse and throughout 2016, I became very unwell and become not able to paintings for a while. ‘I had battled so difficulty with my very own mind for such a lot of years, that in the long run, it could not cope. ‘I realized then that having a person assist you doesn’t mean you’ve got failed, it simply way you are not on my own anymore.’ With the support of family and pals, she began seeing a psychologist every week, who has been working together with her ever due to the fact. She says talking through her emotions has been an excellent help however Robyn has additionally rediscovered love for tennis – something that she says has stored her.
She says: ‘I have labored very toughly to maintain going and locate ways to manage. For me, tennis saved my lifestyles. ‘In 2016 I started out looking summer of tennis, and my passion for the sport returned. ‘As a younger lady, I became pretty correct – I became school champion – however, I had now not stepped on a court docket for years. ‘I turned into inspired by sturdy girl players like Jo Konta. I purchased a ball gadget (and called him Roger!) and I spent hours on the court simply hitting ball after ball. ‘I started out to play matches, had an education and truly enjoyed gaining knowledge of and guffawing at the same time as gambling the game. ‘Tennis helped steer me far away from the steady battle in my head and more importantly, I realized that I did now not experience so on my own anymore.
