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Out In The Open

Getting stuck with the 'not sick enough' stigma

Madison Louise Rambeau talks about the challenges of suffering from mental illness when those around you say you’re just fine.
Out In The Open ·
It can be hard to tell if someone suffers from anxiety. (Kenzie Saunders)

Madison Louise Rambeau says people are surprised to learn she deals with anxiety and depression.

"I look 'normal.' I don't look 'sick'...When you see a person like myself who is high functioning, I don't fit any of those [mental illness stereotypes]. 

"It's a struggle because not only do I have to deal with the illnesses themselves, but I have to deal with other people not understanding or other people invalidating my struggles." 
Madison Louise Rambeau suffers from anxiety and depression, but because she is high functioning she often needs to convince people of her illness.

Madison calls this the 'not sick enough' stigma.

"Once you get to that place where I can say, yes I have these struggles, it's really tough for people to come back behind me and say that I don't, or that I don't look like I do, or that I'm not sick enough. It's like people will rate how I feel just based on how I look."

Madison believes this often leads to people with mental health issues having to get sicker before they can get help because the 'not sick enough stigma' relies on the belief that you're not sick unless it's visible.

"When somebody is feeling that constant invalidation and guilt with themselves, it leads to getting worse. And, so, as you get worse then it becomes visible. Then all of a sudden people say, "Oh my gosh. You're sick." But in reality, it was not all of a sudden."

This story originally aired on March 12, 2017. It appears in the Out in the Open episode "Invisible Illness".

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