My health has shaped me in ways deeper than the eye can see.

Clovelly | QLD

Clovelly, 16 from Toowoomba, Queensland.

From the ages of around four to ten, I lived with CRMO, a rare and painful bone disease. In the last two years, I’ve been managing Functional Neurological Disorder and low ferritin stores. The commonality between all these issues are that they’re invisible – nobody can see a physical injury, so they assume it’s not there. Photo or it didn’t happen, right? I look completely fine, put together even, from the outside. On the inside,however, I am dealing with pain, fatigue, and the constant uncertainty of how my body will act every single day. 

My biggest challenge has been trying to balance these health issues while entering my senior high school education. I’ve always pushed myself academically, striving for straight A’s and academic awards. I wanted to be the student who could handle anything and everything thrown my way. While I was striving to be an “academic weapon”, my body was fighting against me in ways I couldn’t even begin to explain. I missed so many classes for appointments and studied through the pain. I carried the fear of falling behind despite feeling like I was doing everything I could. The most difficult part wasn’t the work itself – it was feeling alonethat nobody could see what I was truly carrying.  

From this experience, I’ve learnt how misunderstood invisible illnesses are for anyone, let alone adolescents. Many of us with these invisible conditions fill dismissed and pressured to “just keep going” because our symptoms can’t be seen. We’re told it’s all in our heads, it’s just stress and we need to get over ourselves. Schools don’t know how to support students with conditions like this and teens like me and so many others feel isolated and unlike other kids our age.  

I am going to push for real change in the world of chronic illnesses. Too many young people are carrying their health challenges alone, struggling in silence in fear of being different, of being told they “Don’t look sick” and lacking real support. Young people deserve flexible learning options that don’t punish them for what they can’t control. I believe conversations and chronic illness should be normalised so that teens don’t feel ashamed or alone. If we create environments where teenagers’ health struggles are taken seriously, we can make various spaces more supportive for every young person navigating difficult conditions.  I want to speak louder, to use my voice to change this. I want more people to understand how these illnesses truly impact the lives of people, especially adolescents. I want more understanding and flexibility in schools with better support for those suffering these chronic health conditions. Most of all, I want teens facing invisible illnesses to feel less alone than I did.