In a year that's seen the Ebola virus spread to more people than ever before, we're reminded of its horrifying symptoms by photographs of bleeding bodies covered in spotty rashes. These photographs document the virus, and show people in other countries the degree of destruction that it can wreck—its visible symptoms help us take Ebola ever more seriously. And cause us to fear it.
Yet, there are many other illnesses that don't have the visible signs that we commonly associate with pain. Where someone covered with lesions is understood to be in pain, someone suffering from Multiple Sclerosis can experience a pain that's largely without any visible signs. This type of pain—along with associated illnesses like Fibromyalgia, Lupus, Multiple Sclerosis, Lyme's Disease, Crohn's Disease, Colitis, Hashimoto's—is the focus of the upcoming documentary, Invisible. The project is led by Megan Densmore, a fitness instructor who suffered from Fibromyalgia for more than a decade and used Pilates to help control her pain. Densmore hopes to document the lives of people who have these diseases, to help bridge the gap between them and those who would like to understand their experiences. The team is currently on Indiegogo hoping to raise $40,000 to finish the film.
Check out a teaser below:
